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"title": "What’s Wrong With Social Media? Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Trevor Noah Just Explained",
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"content": "\u003cp>Earlier this week, feminist author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie went viral after posting an essay titled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.chimamanda.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">It Is Obscene: A True Reflection in Three Parts\u003c/a>.” (It garnered so much traffic so quickly, her website temporarily crashed.) In the essay, Adichie wrote about two students in her workshop who disparaged her on Twitter while also seeking to benefit from her name elsewhere. She also touched on the fallout from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/06/17/1007350665/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-directs-fiery-essay-at-former-student-and-cancel-cultur\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">problematic comments\u003c/a> she made about trans women in a 2017 interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her new essay, Adichie’s conclusions about the effects of social media—particularly on “young people”—were decisive. “There are many social-media-savvy people who are choking on sanctimony and lacking in compassion,” she wrote, “who can fluidly pontificate on Twitter about kindness but are unable to actually show kindness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='pop_69713']Adichie continued: “People who demand that you denounce your friends for flimsy reasons in order to remain a member of the chosen puritan class. People who depend on obfuscation, who have no compassion for anybody genuinely curious or confused. Ask them a question and you are told that the answer is to repeat a mantra … And so we have a generation of young people on social media so terrified of having the wrong opinions that they have robbed themselves of the opportunity to think and to learn and to grow.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The author concluded: “I have spoken to young people who tell me they are terrified to tweet anything, that they read and re-read their tweets because they fear they will be attacked by their own. The assumption of good faith is dead. What matters is not goodness but the appearance of goodness. We are no longer human beings. We are now angels jostling to out-angel one another. God help us. It is obscene.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adichie’s sentiments were immediately greeted with a swift wall of objection on Twitter that has, in the days since, been replaced by a wave of support and intellectual analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/thomaschattwill/status/1405172793780604929\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adichie’s essay effectively highlighted the nuance and humanity that gets lost in performative righteousness. But during Wednesday night’s \u003cem>Daily Show\u003c/em>, Trevor Noah adeptly described the dark road that comes after trying to out-good people on the internet. In an in-depth analysis of social media etiquette, prompted by \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/chrissy-teigen-s-bullying-regret-fit-well-known-pattern-here-ncna1271016\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chrissy Teigen’s apologies for bullying behavior\u003c/a> online, Noah attempted to take a hopeful tone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m glad [Teigen is] owning up to being a horrible person online,” he began, “because that is what we want, right? We want people to be better and we want people to grow. … What really gives me hope is that, back when Chrissy was bullying people online, millions of people were cheering for her. But now, a lot of those people are criticizing her for that same thing that they cheered. … It shows you that society has evolved.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNiQ60xBTG4\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Noah, without referencing Adichie’s essay, expanded on her observations regarding the online obsession with the “appearance of goodness.” He pointed out that the online compulsion to call others out for bad behavior often has a tendency to result in more of the same.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we have to understand,” Noah explained, “is that social media pushes people into being their most asshole-ish self. Roasting people, dunking on them, that’s how you get the likes. … Twitter sees when a few people attack someone, and they put that in the trending topics. … So then what do you end up with? You end up with millions of people looking to roast each other. To say the nastiest things they can think of, until they go too far, until all of a sudden the outrage they were a part of turns on them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Noah expanded further, saying, “That’s not a mistake. It’s how the system is set up. … There’s something about the platform that incentivizes people to be the worst versions of themselves.” [aside postid='arts_13893734']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Together, Adichie and Noah’s analyses perfectly pinpoint the cycle of bullying that social media can, and does, perpetuate. In online contexts, the desire to appear honorable can obliterate reasoned discussion, in favor of tearing down others in a manner that’s both simplified and amplified because of the format.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This online calling out and piling on has long been dismissed on the right as “cancel culture”—a term that is inherently disingenuous given the continuing careers of people who’ve been “canceled.” (In an interview with \u003cem>The Sunday Times\u003c/em> last week, Kevin Hart—whose positions were \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/WrittenByHanna/status/1404960739346030593\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">compared to Adichie\u003c/a>‘s essay by some Twitter users—noted that he’d been “canceled, what, three or four times?”)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1281392795748569089\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We have long needed an analysis of social media that allows for a spectrum between the left’s desire to hold others accountable and the right’s ongoing suggestion that any and all criticism be dismissed as so-called cancel culture. With Adichie and Noah’s sharp observations this week, we might finally be getting somewhere.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Earlier this week, feminist author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie went viral after posting an essay titled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.chimamanda.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">It Is Obscene: A True Reflection in Three Parts\u003c/a>.” (It garnered so much traffic so quickly, her website temporarily crashed.) In the essay, Adichie wrote about two students in her workshop who disparaged her on Twitter while also seeking to benefit from her name elsewhere. She also touched on the fallout from the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/06/17/1007350665/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-directs-fiery-essay-at-former-student-and-cancel-cultur\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">problematic comments\u003c/a> she made about trans women in a 2017 interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In her new essay, Adichie’s conclusions about the effects of social media—particularly on “young people”—were decisive. “There are many social-media-savvy people who are choking on sanctimony and lacking in compassion,” she wrote, “who can fluidly pontificate on Twitter about kindness but are unable to actually show kindness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Adichie continued: “People who demand that you denounce your friends for flimsy reasons in order to remain a member of the chosen puritan class. People who depend on obfuscation, who have no compassion for anybody genuinely curious or confused. Ask them a question and you are told that the answer is to repeat a mantra … And so we have a generation of young people on social media so terrified of having the wrong opinions that they have robbed themselves of the opportunity to think and to learn and to grow.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The author concluded: “I have spoken to young people who tell me they are terrified to tweet anything, that they read and re-read their tweets because they fear they will be attacked by their own. The assumption of good faith is dead. What matters is not goodness but the appearance of goodness. We are no longer human beings. We are now angels jostling to out-angel one another. God help us. It is obscene.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adichie’s sentiments were immediately greeted with a swift wall of objection on Twitter that has, in the days since, been replaced by a wave of support and intellectual analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Adichie’s essay effectively highlighted the nuance and humanity that gets lost in performative righteousness. But during Wednesday night’s \u003cem>Daily Show\u003c/em>, Trevor Noah adeptly described the dark road that comes after trying to out-good people on the internet. In an in-depth analysis of social media etiquette, prompted by \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/chrissy-teigen-s-bullying-regret-fit-well-known-pattern-here-ncna1271016\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chrissy Teigen’s apologies for bullying behavior\u003c/a> online, Noah attempted to take a hopeful tone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m glad [Teigen is] owning up to being a horrible person online,” he began, “because that is what we want, right? We want people to be better and we want people to grow. … What really gives me hope is that, back when Chrissy was bullying people online, millions of people were cheering for her. But now, a lot of those people are criticizing her for that same thing that they cheered. … It shows you that society has evolved.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/sNiQ60xBTG4'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/sNiQ60xBTG4'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Noah, without referencing Adichie’s essay, expanded on her observations regarding the online obsession with the “appearance of goodness.” He pointed out that the online compulsion to call others out for bad behavior often has a tendency to result in more of the same.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we have to understand,” Noah explained, “is that social media pushes people into being their most asshole-ish self. Roasting people, dunking on them, that’s how you get the likes. … Twitter sees when a few people attack someone, and they put that in the trending topics. … So then what do you end up with? You end up with millions of people looking to roast each other. To say the nastiest things they can think of, until they go too far, until all of a sudden the outrage they were a part of turns on them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Noah expanded further, saying, “That’s not a mistake. It’s how the system is set up. … There’s something about the platform that incentivizes people to be the worst versions of themselves.” \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">Y\u003c/span>ou know what’s a wild topic right now? The discussion around decriminalizing and destigmatizing the use of hallucinogenic substances and psychedelic plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Start with the money. Psychedelic pharmaceutical stocks are such a hot trend that on April 20, a day known for celebrating marijuana, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/3-of-the-top-psychedelic-stocks-that-will-blow-your-mind-2021-04-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nasdaq provided a guide\u003c/a> for potential investors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the medical side, there’s been ample research into the healing properties of psychedelic mushrooms, but there probably isn’t a study more convincing than the testimony of Mike Tyson, who in an interview published last week said that \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/mike-tyson-says-psychedelics-saved-his-life-now-he-hopes-they-can-change-world-2021-05-28/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">taking shrooms saved his life\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when it comes to the legislative aspects, one can look at Oakland, where mushrooms were decriminalized in 2019. Some of the same people who backed that legislation two years ago celebrated a new milestone last week, when a bill to decriminalize psychedelics statewide made some significant progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last Tuesday, the California Senate \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11873841/decriminalizing-psychedelic-drugs-in-california-as-senate-considers-bill-debate-continues\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">narrowly approved SB 519\u003c/a>. The bill, authored by San Francisco Senator Scott Wiener, would allow prescription of psychedelics for medical use, plus possession of psychedelics for personal use, and would expunge the records of those previously convicted of possession. This would include “psilocybin, psilocyn, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, mescaline, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), ketamine, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA),” according to the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB519\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">text of the bill\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While managing to convince a slight majority of California senators (21 out of 40) to support the bill is impressive, it still needs to pass the Assembly and be signed by Governor Newsom in order to become law. But there’s a definite buzz in the air. In our lifetime—and perhaps very soon—acid, shrooms, and ecstasy could all be legal. How wild is that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898553\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13898553\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Carlos.Larry_-800x561.jpg\" alt=\"Carlos Plazola and Larry Norris (L–R) have advocated for SB 519, the California bill that would decriminalize psychedelics like mushrooms.\" width=\"800\" height=\"561\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Carlos.Larry_-800x561.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Carlos.Larry_-1020x715.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Carlos.Larry_-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Carlos.Larry_-768x539.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Carlos.Larry_.jpg 1122w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carlos Plazola and Larry Norris (L–R) have advocated for SB 519, the California bill that would decriminalize psychedelics like mushrooms. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Photos)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">C\u003c/span>arlos Plazola and Larry Norris, co-founders of the advocacy group \u003ca href=\"https://www.decriminalizenature.org/about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Decriminalize Nature\u003c/a>, play a significant part in the conversation I’ve been following. They tell me that people all over the world are talking about decriminalizing natural hallucination-inducing plants, known as entheogens, but that “\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the cutting-edge work is happening here in the U.S.,” Plazola says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s a tiered system of how countries categorize these plants, ranging from legal, to decriminalized, then unenforced and on down to illegal. And here in the United States, it’s pretty much the same, with different states having drastically different laws. Look at Oregon, where \u003ca href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2020/11/oregon-becomes-first-state-to-legalize-psychedelic-mushrooms.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">mushrooms were first legalized\u003c/a>, and then look at the neighboring state of Idaho, “one of the \u003ca href=\"https://psilocybin.net/laws/idaho/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">toughest U.S. states\u003c/a> when it comes to the legality of magic mushroom spores.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Maybe it’s just about us having a new conversation around nature,” says Norris. “How can somebody make a plant that grows out of the ground illegal? That’s mind-boggling.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Decriminalize Nature has already backed decriminalizing legislation that’s passed in seven different cities across the United States, including Washington, D.C. Now, with Oakland and Santa Cruz already decriminalized, all eyes are on the state of California.[aside postID='news_11873841']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s essential to understand why advocates like Decriminalize Nature aim for decriminalizing instead of legalizing. A decriminalized status means that people who grow, gather or give away mushrooms won’t be prosecuted. It addresses the failed war on drugs, supports people who use psychedelics for spiritual practices, and, importantly, undercuts the predatory profit of big business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many believe that barrier to entry for big business is the only safeguard keeping the psychedelic industry from turning into the marijuana industry, with all its inequity. A 2017 \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/race-and-ethnicity-lifestyle-business-8e047483fc6e83e2e5f6dc971cb4aa73\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">study from Marijuana Business Daily\u003c/a> showed that 81% of cannabis business owners and founders were white.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Prop. 215 was pushed by people who cared about the medical cannabis decriminalization movement,” says Plazola, referring to the 1996 initiative that allowed medicinal marijuana in California. But while decriminalization can help those most in need, he explains, full legalization can open the floodgates for investors. “\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Prop. 64 raised tons of money,” he says, in reference to the 2016 legislation that legalized recreational cannabis in the Golden State, “but it came with quid pro quos; that’s when the industry got corrupted.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898552\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 683px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898552\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/ReggieHarris.jpg\" alt=\"Reggie Harris has developed a test for mushrooms' potency.\" width=\"683\" height=\"924\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/ReggieHarris.jpg 683w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/ReggieHarris-160x216.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Reggie Harris has developed a test for mushrooms’ potency. \u003ccite>(Chaz Hubbard)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Another person wary of big money in psychedelics is Reggie Harris. He’s the founder of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oakland_hyphae/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oakland Hyphae\u003c/a>, a business that advocates for “plant medicine cultivators and enthusiasts.” Harris, an advisory board member of Decriminalize Nature, says it’s a no-brainer that big business would want to get into the psychedelic game once legislation changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, a few months ago, he decided to do something about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“For everybody who smokes cannabis, you know, you got the Cannabis Cup or the Emerald Cup,” Harris says. “I felt like it was only right to put a flag down and do the \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandhyphae510.com/post/oakland-hyphae-presents-the-spring-2021-psilocybin-cup-final-results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Psilocybin Cup.\u003c/a>“\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The multi-day virtual conference, held this past April, allowed people from all over the world to connect and discuss entheogens and all they entail. Along with touching on the money issues, the medical side and the legality of it all, the Psilocybin Cup allowed attendees to have the potency of their products tested—which Reggie says is rare, and could potentially change a grower’s fortune.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Prior to the cup, Harris was providing tests for free. His slogan was “if you can get your sample to Oakland, I’ll test it.” \u003c/span>Now, Harris says, “the best cultivators are paying me to take samples of their mushrooms and test them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through sharing those test results, Harris says he’s gotten calls from large companies in countries where mushrooms are completely legal. That made him realize the value of being able to identify a quality product.[aside postID='news_11750909']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Psilocybin Cup, Harris worked with a number of African American\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> growers, and waived their entry fee so he could test their products–which will hopefully lead to them getting a foothold in the growing market.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How does Harris test?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s a machine where you take samples of mushrooms—five grams,” Harris tells me, explaining that the shrooms are ground into a dust-like form and then mixed with a solvent solution that separates the various components. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Harris, who studied political science at Florida A&M but obviously knows a thing or two about mycology, continues: “And then we run the solution through the chromatograph. And it spits out info on a computer screen that has peaks and valleys. And we measure that against what we call a standard”—the standard level of all the psychoactive components of a magic mushroom, including psilocybin, psilocin, baeocystin, and norbaeocystin.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Based on those peaks and standards, we can calculate how many parts per million are in that sample,” Harris tells me, all casually, like he’s not explaining chemistry to an Arts and Culture writer. “Does that makes sense?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Verbally, I said that I understood, but what I was really thinking was that this conversation about decriminalizing plants had gotten deeper than I had expected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I pivoted and asked the obvious next question: how do you determine a winner of the Psilocybin Cup?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Let the data do the talking,” says Harris.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898543\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13898543\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/download-2-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Larry Norris speaks at an Oakland City Council meeting in support of decriminalizing psychedelic mushrooms in the city.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/download-2-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/download-2-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/download-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/download-2.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Larry Norris speaks at an Oakland City Council meeting in support of decriminalizing psychedelic mushrooms in the city. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Larry Norris)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">L\u003c/span>ast week, Harris announced the second Psilocybin Cup, set for September 20, \u003ca href=\"https://920coalition.org/10-fun-ways-to-celebrate-magic-mushroom-day\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Magic Mushroom Day\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until then, this discussion around shrooms and other entheogens will continue. The data will talk, as will community organizers and elected lawmakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while we might be on the “cutting edge” of change, at least in the way \u003cem>we\u003c/em> know the world in its current incarnation, there’s something Larry Norris said that sticks out to me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There are cave paintings in Algeria,” he told me, paintings which suggest human beings have been eating shrooms since \u003ca href=\"https://www.britannica.com/place/Tassili-n-Ajjer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">7,000 years ago\u003c/a>. “People have been working with plants and mushrooms for a \u003cem>long time\u003c/em>.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t know what’s wilder—the fact that those paintings still exist, or that the first agricultural societies were talking about mushrooms the way we are now, 7,000 years later.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">Y\u003c/span>ou know what’s a wild topic right now? The discussion around decriminalizing and destigmatizing the use of hallucinogenic substances and psychedelic plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Start with the money. Psychedelic pharmaceutical stocks are such a hot trend that on April 20, a day known for celebrating marijuana, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/3-of-the-top-psychedelic-stocks-that-will-blow-your-mind-2021-04-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nasdaq provided a guide\u003c/a> for potential investors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the medical side, there’s been ample research into the healing properties of psychedelic mushrooms, but there probably isn’t a study more convincing than the testimony of Mike Tyson, who in an interview published last week said that \u003ca href=\"https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/mike-tyson-says-psychedelics-saved-his-life-now-he-hopes-they-can-change-world-2021-05-28/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">taking shrooms saved his life\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when it comes to the legislative aspects, one can look at Oakland, where mushrooms were decriminalized in 2019. Some of the same people who backed that legislation two years ago celebrated a new milestone last week, when a bill to decriminalize psychedelics statewide made some significant progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last Tuesday, the California Senate \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11873841/decriminalizing-psychedelic-drugs-in-california-as-senate-considers-bill-debate-continues\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">narrowly approved SB 519\u003c/a>. The bill, authored by San Francisco Senator Scott Wiener, would allow prescription of psychedelics for medical use, plus possession of psychedelics for personal use, and would expunge the records of those previously convicted of possession. This would include “psilocybin, psilocyn, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, mescaline, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), ketamine, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA),” according to the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB519\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">text of the bill\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While managing to convince a slight majority of California senators (21 out of 40) to support the bill is impressive, it still needs to pass the Assembly and be signed by Governor Newsom in order to become law. But there’s a definite buzz in the air. In our lifetime—and perhaps very soon—acid, shrooms, and ecstasy could all be legal. How wild is that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898553\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13898553\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Carlos.Larry_-800x561.jpg\" alt=\"Carlos Plazola and Larry Norris (L–R) have advocated for SB 519, the California bill that would decriminalize psychedelics like mushrooms.\" width=\"800\" height=\"561\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Carlos.Larry_-800x561.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Carlos.Larry_-1020x715.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Carlos.Larry_-160x112.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Carlos.Larry_-768x539.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/Carlos.Larry_.jpg 1122w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Carlos Plazola and Larry Norris (L–R) have advocated for SB 519, the California bill that would decriminalize psychedelics like mushrooms. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Photos)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">C\u003c/span>arlos Plazola and Larry Norris, co-founders of the advocacy group \u003ca href=\"https://www.decriminalizenature.org/about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Decriminalize Nature\u003c/a>, play a significant part in the conversation I’ve been following. They tell me that people all over the world are talking about decriminalizing natural hallucination-inducing plants, known as entheogens, but that “\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the cutting-edge work is happening here in the U.S.,” Plazola says.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s a tiered system of how countries categorize these plants, ranging from legal, to decriminalized, then unenforced and on down to illegal. And here in the United States, it’s pretty much the same, with different states having drastically different laws. Look at Oregon, where \u003ca href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2020/11/oregon-becomes-first-state-to-legalize-psychedelic-mushrooms.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">mushrooms were first legalized\u003c/a>, and then look at the neighboring state of Idaho, “one of the \u003ca href=\"https://psilocybin.net/laws/idaho/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">toughest U.S. states\u003c/a> when it comes to the legality of magic mushroom spores.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Maybe it’s just about us having a new conversation around nature,” says Norris. “How can somebody make a plant that grows out of the ground illegal? That’s mind-boggling.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Decriminalize Nature has already backed decriminalizing legislation that’s passed in seven different cities across the United States, including Washington, D.C. Now, with Oakland and Santa Cruz already decriminalized, all eyes are on the state of California.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s essential to understand why advocates like Decriminalize Nature aim for decriminalizing instead of legalizing. A decriminalized status means that people who grow, gather or give away mushrooms won’t be prosecuted. It addresses the failed war on drugs, supports people who use psychedelics for spiritual practices, and, importantly, undercuts the predatory profit of big business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many believe that barrier to entry for big business is the only safeguard keeping the psychedelic industry from turning into the marijuana industry, with all its inequity. A 2017 \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/race-and-ethnicity-lifestyle-business-8e047483fc6e83e2e5f6dc971cb4aa73\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">study from Marijuana Business Daily\u003c/a> showed that 81% of cannabis business owners and founders were white.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Prop. 215 was pushed by people who cared about the medical cannabis decriminalization movement,” says Plazola, referring to the 1996 initiative that allowed medicinal marijuana in California. But while decriminalization can help those most in need, he explains, full legalization can open the floodgates for investors. “\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Prop. 64 raised tons of money,” he says, in reference to the 2016 legislation that legalized recreational cannabis in the Golden State, “but it came with quid pro quos; that’s when the industry got corrupted.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898552\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 683px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13898552\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/ReggieHarris.jpg\" alt=\"Reggie Harris has developed a test for mushrooms' potency.\" width=\"683\" height=\"924\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/ReggieHarris.jpg 683w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/ReggieHarris-160x216.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Reggie Harris has developed a test for mushrooms’ potency. \u003ccite>(Chaz Hubbard)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Another person wary of big money in psychedelics is Reggie Harris. He’s the founder of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oakland_hyphae/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oakland Hyphae\u003c/a>, a business that advocates for “plant medicine cultivators and enthusiasts.” Harris, an advisory board member of Decriminalize Nature, says it’s a no-brainer that big business would want to get into the psychedelic game once legislation changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, a few months ago, he decided to do something about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“For everybody who smokes cannabis, you know, you got the Cannabis Cup or the Emerald Cup,” Harris says. “I felt like it was only right to put a flag down and do the \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandhyphae510.com/post/oakland-hyphae-presents-the-spring-2021-psilocybin-cup-final-results\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Psilocybin Cup.\u003c/a>“\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The multi-day virtual conference, held this past April, allowed people from all over the world to connect and discuss entheogens and all they entail. Along with touching on the money issues, the medical side and the legality of it all, the Psilocybin Cup allowed attendees to have the potency of their products tested—which Reggie says is rare, and could potentially change a grower’s fortune.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Prior to the cup, Harris was providing tests for free. His slogan was “if you can get your sample to Oakland, I’ll test it.” \u003c/span>Now, Harris says, “the best cultivators are paying me to take samples of their mushrooms and test them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through sharing those test results, Harris says he’s gotten calls from large companies in countries where mushrooms are completely legal. That made him realize the value of being able to identify a quality product.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Psilocybin Cup, Harris worked with a number of African American\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> growers, and waived their entry fee so he could test their products–which will hopefully lead to them getting a foothold in the growing market.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How does Harris test?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“It’s a machine where you take samples of mushrooms—five grams,” Harris tells me, explaining that the shrooms are ground into a dust-like form and then mixed with a solvent solution that separates the various components. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Harris, who studied political science at Florida A&M but obviously knows a thing or two about mycology, continues: “And then we run the solution through the chromatograph. And it spits out info on a computer screen that has peaks and valleys. And we measure that against what we call a standard”—the standard level of all the psychoactive components of a magic mushroom, including psilocybin, psilocin, baeocystin, and norbaeocystin.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Based on those peaks and standards, we can calculate how many parts per million are in that sample,” Harris tells me, all casually, like he’s not explaining chemistry to an Arts and Culture writer. “Does that makes sense?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Verbally, I said that I understood, but what I was really thinking was that this conversation about decriminalizing plants had gotten deeper than I had expected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I pivoted and asked the obvious next question: how do you determine a winner of the Psilocybin Cup?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“Let the data do the talking,” says Harris.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898543\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13898543\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/download-2-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Larry Norris speaks at an Oakland City Council meeting in support of decriminalizing psychedelic mushrooms in the city.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/download-2-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/download-2-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/download-2-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/download-2.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Larry Norris speaks at an Oakland City Council meeting in support of decriminalizing psychedelic mushrooms in the city. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Larry Norris)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">L\u003c/span>ast week, Harris announced the second Psilocybin Cup, set for September 20, \u003ca href=\"https://920coalition.org/10-fun-ways-to-celebrate-magic-mushroom-day\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Magic Mushroom Day\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until then, this discussion around shrooms and other entheogens will continue. The data will talk, as will community organizers and elected lawmakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And while we might be on the “cutting edge” of change, at least in the way \u003cem>we\u003c/em> know the world in its current incarnation, there’s something Larry Norris said that sticks out to me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“There are cave paintings in Algeria,” he told me, paintings which suggest human beings have been eating shrooms since \u003ca href=\"https://www.britannica.com/place/Tassili-n-Ajjer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">7,000 years ago\u003c/a>. “People have been working with plants and mushrooms for a \u003cem>long time\u003c/em>.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t know what’s wilder—the fact that those paintings still exist, or that the first agricultural societies were talking about mushrooms the way we are now, 7,000 years later.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Naomi Osaka Needs a Mental Health Break From Tennis—Sexism May Be a Factor",
"headTitle": "Naomi Osaka Needs a Mental Health Break From Tennis—Sexism May Be a Factor | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>On Tuesday, the tennis Grand Slams—the French Open, U.S. Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open—released \u003ca href=\"https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/articles/2021-06-01/2021-06-01_statement_from_the_grand_slam_tournaments_regarding_naomi_osaka.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a statement supporting\u003c/a> Naomi Osaka’s decision to withdraw from competition for mental health reasons. It read, in part: “We wish to offer Naomi Osaka our support and assistance in any way possible as she takes time away from the court. She is an exceptional athlete and we look forward to her return as soon as she deems appropriate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To many onlookers, the sympathetic tone seemed fairly disingenuous coming, as it did, just two days after the organizations threatened Osaka with disqualification and exclusion from future tournaments. That same day—Sunday—the \u003ca href=\"https://www.rolandgarros.com/en-us/article/statement-from-grand-slam-tournaments-regarding-naomi-osaka\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">French Open fined\u003c/a> the 23-year-old $15,000 for not wanting to fulfill her press obligations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Osaka had first announced her desire to stop doing press conferences in \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/naomiosaka/status/1397665030015959040\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a statement\u003c/a> published to Twitter on May 26. “I’ve often felt that people have no regard for athletes’ mental health and this rings very true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, she followed that up with a statement of complete \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CPi9kJHJfxO/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">withdrawal from this year’s French Open\u003c/a>, released via Instagram. It read in part:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>I have suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that. Anyone that knows me knows I am introverted, and anyone that has seen me at tournaments will notice that I’m often wearing headphones as that helps dull my social anxiety. So here in Paris I was already feeling vulnerable and anxious so I thought it was better to exercise self-care and skip the press conferences … Slams are intense. I’m gonna take some time away from the court now.”\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Tennis stars like Venus Williams, Gaël Monfils, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CPi9kJHJfxO/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sloane Stephens\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/naomi-osaka-grand-slams-pledge-174317441.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALhcCW_FtzGIk6TZJxSg-cLzPGiERu0_nXCLyfwE39qMYWoWxz3fU_RYeRyAN0Of5d2Naq65bpykxtJao72KHYcw4tOn2eVFlBFUL38ANX2LjfAauQ-IvWzRGAUohPjtl0HF7Oj72TiP2CsGlOQNo1y75qD0Tb3mHIVMCDTx4-jb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Boris Becker and Martina Navratilova\u003c/a> have all offered their sympathy and support for Osaka. Monfils, 34, is another tennis pro who has previously expressed mental anguish over media scrutiny. Last February at an Australian Open press conference, he broke down, telling journalists, “I’m already on the ground. You shoot me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it’s impossible to know all of the elements causing Osaka to take a break from tennis, the pressures on female players—and the scrutiny they’re subjected to—are undoubtedly even more intense than what their male counterparts navigate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To illustrate, here are five times tennis has failed women at the top of their game.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Genie Bouchard Twirl\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bekZR7pNYug\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the 2015 Australian Open, Tennis Australia commentator Ian Cohen greeted a triumphant Bouchard with the question: “Can you give us a twirl and tell us about your outfit?” She was visibly taken aback before obliging, undoubtedly \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdZHama6exo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">under pressure\u003c/a> from the awaiting camera and packed arena. Later at a press conference, the first Canadian ever to be ranked in the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenie_Bouchard#Career_statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Top 5 in tennis singles\u003c/a> said: “I’m fine with being asked to twirl if they ask the guys to flex their muscles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Serena Williams Cited for “Verbal Abuse”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the 2018 U.S. Open final, Williams was docked a point for receiving coaching signals—something she strongly denied. She was then cited for breaking her racket. Finally, after she demanded an apology from umpire Carlos Ramos—calling him a liar and a thief—she was cited for “verbal abuse” and lost the game because of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='pop_106107']On the court, Williams told the referee: “This is not fair. This has happened to me too many times. There’s a lot of men out here that have said a lot of things worse, and it doesn’t happen to them. Because I’m a woman, you’re going to take that away from me, and that is not right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Williams wasn’t wrong. Though \u003ca href=\"http://www.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/09/18/tennis.federer.outburst.fine.garner/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Roger Federer\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-09-07-sp-4075-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">John McEnroe\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/08/31/Agassi-fined-3000-for-spitting-and-swearing-at-umpire/5668652075200/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andre Agassi\u003c/a> have all received fines for bad language on the court, the expletives they used were significantly worse than anything Williams said. Plus in 1991, there were zero consequences for Jimmy Connors after he repeatedly referred to an umpire as “an abortion.” Andy Murray even got away with kicking a ball at an umpire’s head in 2016—surely a luxury that would never have been afforded to a Black woman. Regardless, the International Tennis Federation later defended the decisions of Ramos and the referee, and docked Williams a combined $17,000 for all three code violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alizé Cornet Given Code Violation For Fixing Shirt\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4zcvg0Q23I&t=87s\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, the day after tennis fans had sat and watched male player \u003ca href=\"https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/09/novak-djokovic-john-millman-us-open-tennis-clothing-change-heat-shirtless-gif\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Novak Djokovic\u003c/a> sit completely shirtless on the court, Alizé Cornet was \u003ca href=\"https://www.glamour.com/story/tennis-player-alize-cornet-penalized-for-fixing-shirt-on-court-at-2018-us-open\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hit with a code violation\u003c/a> from an umpire for trying to fix her top. Having realized she was wearing her shirt backwards after a break, Cornet quickly flipped it and was subsequently given a verbal warning, much to her surprise. The following day, the U.S. Open released a statement, at least, saying they regretted the citation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Serena Williams Catsuit Ban\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898131\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13898131\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/GettyImages-966119140-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Serena Williams in her now-banned catsuit at the 2018 French Open in Paris.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/GettyImages-966119140-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/GettyImages-966119140-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/GettyImages-966119140-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/GettyImages-966119140-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/GettyImages-966119140-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/GettyImages-966119140-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/GettyImages-966119140-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Serena Williams in her now-banned catsuit at the 2018 French Open in Paris. \u003ccite>(Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 2018, on the heels of winning the Australian Open \u003cem>and\u003c/em> having a baby, Serena Williams arrived on the court in Paris wearing a sleek and practical black Nike catsuit. Despite being an immediate hit with fans, French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli told \u003cem>Tennis Magazine\u003c/em> that the catsuit would not be permitted in future. “I think we sometimes went too far,” he said two months later. “It will no longer be accepted. You have to respect the game and the place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Frequent and Widespread Sexist Questions \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting players to twirl isn’t the only way female players are treated differently to their male counterparts by sports journalists. After a 2015 incident in which Serena Williams was asked why she wasn’t smiling, three Cornell computer scientists starting \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/08/upshot/sexism-and-shopping-female-players-get-most-of-the-odd-questions-at-the-us-open.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">researching sexist double standards in tennis journalism\u003c/a>. Liye Fu, Lillian Lee and Cristian Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil processed tens of thousands of questions posed to tennis players over a 15-year span. And they found that 70% of non-tennis-related questions were directed at the female players. In addition to sporting queries, women were also asked about manicures, shopping, cooking and many other things the male players were not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With all those extra stressors in mind, not only should Naomi Osaka not be penalized for her decision to step back from media duties, she should be held up as an example of what excellent self-care looks like. The way Osaka has been criticized in \u003ca href=\"https://www.huffpost.com/entry/piers-morgan-naomi-osaka-column_n_60b57246e4b0c5658f975583\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">some corners of the media\u003c/a> for her decision is a crucial example of why it was so necessary in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On Tuesday, the tennis Grand Slams—the French Open, U.S. Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open—released \u003ca href=\"https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/news/articles/2021-06-01/2021-06-01_statement_from_the_grand_slam_tournaments_regarding_naomi_osaka.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a statement supporting\u003c/a> Naomi Osaka’s decision to withdraw from competition for mental health reasons. It read, in part: “We wish to offer Naomi Osaka our support and assistance in any way possible as she takes time away from the court. She is an exceptional athlete and we look forward to her return as soon as she deems appropriate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To many onlookers, the sympathetic tone seemed fairly disingenuous coming, as it did, just two days after the organizations threatened Osaka with disqualification and exclusion from future tournaments. That same day—Sunday—the \u003ca href=\"https://www.rolandgarros.com/en-us/article/statement-from-grand-slam-tournaments-regarding-naomi-osaka\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">French Open fined\u003c/a> the 23-year-old $15,000 for not wanting to fulfill her press obligations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Osaka had first announced her desire to stop doing press conferences in \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/naomiosaka/status/1397665030015959040\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a statement\u003c/a> published to Twitter on May 26. “I’ve often felt that people have no regard for athletes’ mental health and this rings very true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, she followed that up with a statement of complete \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CPi9kJHJfxO/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">withdrawal from this year’s French Open\u003c/a>, released via Instagram. It read in part:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>I have suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that. Anyone that knows me knows I am introverted, and anyone that has seen me at tournaments will notice that I’m often wearing headphones as that helps dull my social anxiety. So here in Paris I was already feeling vulnerable and anxious so I thought it was better to exercise self-care and skip the press conferences … Slams are intense. I’m gonna take some time away from the court now.”\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Tennis stars like Venus Williams, Gaël Monfils, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CPi9kJHJfxO/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sloane Stephens\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/naomi-osaka-grand-slams-pledge-174317441.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALhcCW_FtzGIk6TZJxSg-cLzPGiERu0_nXCLyfwE39qMYWoWxz3fU_RYeRyAN0Of5d2Naq65bpykxtJao72KHYcw4tOn2eVFlBFUL38ANX2LjfAauQ-IvWzRGAUohPjtl0HF7Oj72TiP2CsGlOQNo1y75qD0Tb3mHIVMCDTx4-jb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Boris Becker and Martina Navratilova\u003c/a> have all offered their sympathy and support for Osaka. Monfils, 34, is another tennis pro who has previously expressed mental anguish over media scrutiny. Last February at an Australian Open press conference, he broke down, telling journalists, “I’m already on the ground. You shoot me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it’s impossible to know all of the elements causing Osaka to take a break from tennis, the pressures on female players—and the scrutiny they’re subjected to—are undoubtedly even more intense than what their male counterparts navigate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To illustrate, here are five times tennis has failed women at the top of their game.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Genie Bouchard Twirl\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/bekZR7pNYug'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/bekZR7pNYug'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>During the 2015 Australian Open, Tennis Australia commentator Ian Cohen greeted a triumphant Bouchard with the question: “Can you give us a twirl and tell us about your outfit?” She was visibly taken aback before obliging, undoubtedly \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdZHama6exo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">under pressure\u003c/a> from the awaiting camera and packed arena. Later at a press conference, the first Canadian ever to be ranked in the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenie_Bouchard#Career_statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Top 5 in tennis singles\u003c/a> said: “I’m fine with being asked to twirl if they ask the guys to flex their muscles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Serena Williams Cited for “Verbal Abuse”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the 2018 U.S. Open final, Williams was docked a point for receiving coaching signals—something she strongly denied. She was then cited for breaking her racket. Finally, after she demanded an apology from umpire Carlos Ramos—calling him a liar and a thief—she was cited for “verbal abuse” and lost the game because of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>On the court, Williams told the referee: “This is not fair. This has happened to me too many times. There’s a lot of men out here that have said a lot of things worse, and it doesn’t happen to them. Because I’m a woman, you’re going to take that away from me, and that is not right.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Williams wasn’t wrong. Though \u003ca href=\"http://www.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/09/18/tennis.federer.outburst.fine.garner/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Roger Federer\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-09-07-sp-4075-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">John McEnroe\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.upi.com/Archives/1990/08/31/Agassi-fined-3000-for-spitting-and-swearing-at-umpire/5668652075200/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andre Agassi\u003c/a> have all received fines for bad language on the court, the expletives they used were significantly worse than anything Williams said. Plus in 1991, there were zero consequences for Jimmy Connors after he repeatedly referred to an umpire as “an abortion.” Andy Murray even got away with kicking a ball at an umpire’s head in 2016—surely a luxury that would never have been afforded to a Black woman. Regardless, the International Tennis Federation later defended the decisions of Ramos and the referee, and docked Williams a combined $17,000 for all three code violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alizé Cornet Given Code Violation For Fixing Shirt\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/N4zcvg0Q23I'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/N4zcvg0Q23I'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>In 2018, the day after tennis fans had sat and watched male player \u003ca href=\"https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/09/novak-djokovic-john-millman-us-open-tennis-clothing-change-heat-shirtless-gif\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Novak Djokovic\u003c/a> sit completely shirtless on the court, Alizé Cornet was \u003ca href=\"https://www.glamour.com/story/tennis-player-alize-cornet-penalized-for-fixing-shirt-on-court-at-2018-us-open\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hit with a code violation\u003c/a> from an umpire for trying to fix her top. Having realized she was wearing her shirt backwards after a break, Cornet quickly flipped it and was subsequently given a verbal warning, much to her surprise. The following day, the U.S. Open released a statement, at least, saying they regretted the citation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>The Serena Williams Catsuit Ban\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13898131\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13898131\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/GettyImages-966119140-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Serena Williams in her now-banned catsuit at the 2018 French Open in Paris.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/GettyImages-966119140-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/GettyImages-966119140-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/GettyImages-966119140-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/GettyImages-966119140-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/GettyImages-966119140-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/GettyImages-966119140-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/GettyImages-966119140-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Serena Williams in her now-banned catsuit at the 2018 French Open in Paris. \u003ccite>(Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 2018, on the heels of winning the Australian Open \u003cem>and\u003c/em> having a baby, Serena Williams arrived on the court in Paris wearing a sleek and practical black Nike catsuit. Despite being an immediate hit with fans, French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli told \u003cem>Tennis Magazine\u003c/em> that the catsuit would not be permitted in future. “I think we sometimes went too far,” he said two months later. “It will no longer be accepted. You have to respect the game and the place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Frequent and Widespread Sexist Questions \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting players to twirl isn’t the only way female players are treated differently to their male counterparts by sports journalists. After a 2015 incident in which Serena Williams was asked why she wasn’t smiling, three Cornell computer scientists starting \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/08/upshot/sexism-and-shopping-female-players-get-most-of-the-odd-questions-at-the-us-open.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">researching sexist double standards in tennis journalism\u003c/a>. Liye Fu, Lillian Lee and Cristian Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil processed tens of thousands of questions posed to tennis players over a 15-year span. And they found that 70% of non-tennis-related questions were directed at the female players. In addition to sporting queries, women were also asked about manicures, shopping, cooking and many other things the male players were not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With all those extra stressors in mind, not only should Naomi Osaka not be penalized for her decision to step back from media duties, she should be held up as an example of what excellent self-care looks like. The way Osaka has been criticized in \u003ca href=\"https://www.huffpost.com/entry/piers-morgan-naomi-osaka-column_n_60b57246e4b0c5658f975583\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">some corners of the media\u003c/a> for her decision is a crucial example of why it was so necessary in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Thirty Years After ‘Thelma & Louise,’ Feminist Revenge Movie Endings Still Suck",
"headTitle": "Thirty Years After ‘Thelma & Louise,’ Feminist Revenge Movie Endings Still Suck | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Spoiler alert: You’re about to hear, in detail, the endings of the movies \u003cem>Promising Young Woman\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Things Heard and Seen\u003c/em>. If you don’t want to, please leave now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m about to talk about the ending of \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em> too, but if you still haven’t seen that, this probably isn’t the essay for you. The movie turned 30 on May 24 and is, at this point, woven deep into the American consciousness. Who could ever forget the image of the brand-new outlaws driving that ’66 T-Bird into the Grand Canyon, hands locked together in united defiance? Women who would rather die a fiery death on their own terms than live under the thumbs of any more men. It’s an iconic ending to an unerringly feminist movie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I absolutely hate it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66CP-pq7Cx0\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Allow me to give my ire some context. In \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em>, the titular characters are on the run after Louise murders a man who is in the process of violently raping Thelma. (We find out later that Louise had, some years earlier, herself survived a deeply traumatizing sexual assault.) After Louise’s life savings are stolen by a hitchhiker who Thelma spends the night with, Thelma robs a convenience store in order to get gas money. The friends then blow up the truck of a man who is persistently sexually harassing them as they desperately try to reach Mexico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These outlaws aren’t just easy to root for, they offer wish fulfillment to every woman watching. Then, after a few days of living free for the first time in their entire lives, and discovering strength they never knew they had, they just… \u003cem>die\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='pop_105090']Imagine, for a moment, how you’d feel if, at the end of \u003cem>The Shawshank Redemption\u003c/em>, instead of making it to Zihuatanejo, Andy and Red just died instead? Right at the moment when they were almost free, no less. Well, that’s how I feel every time I watch \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em>. I also think about this every time I watch \u003cem>True Romance\u003c/em> and see that even Clarence and Alabama Worley got to their beach in time. Why is it, I wonder, that Thelma and Louise are denied the happy ending granted to other pop culture outlaws?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two movies released in the last six months offer some answers. The first is \u003cem>Things Heard and Seen\u003c/em>, a supernatural thriller set in 1980 and starring Amanda Seyfried. The second is \u003cem>Promising Young Woman\u003c/em>, one of the most talked about movies of the last year, starring Carey Mulligan. Like \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em>, both of these films are driven by feminist themes. And like \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em>, they both end with our heroines dying brutal, untimely deaths.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCAaonjgDEA\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003cem>Things Heard and Seen\u003c/em>, Seyfried’s character, Catherine, abandons a rewarding career and relocates to upstate New York at the behest of her (cheating, gaslighting) husband, George. The two move into an old farmhouse where supernatural events occur nightly. Catherine soon comes to find that the house has borne witness to two separate incidents of femicide at the hands of violent husbands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After seeing that Catherine is having a hard time advocating for herself, Catherine’s assertive new friend Justine invites her to a women’s group. George objects to this kind of female solidarity. Then, after Justine finds out that George is having an affair \u003cem>and\u003c/em> that he got his job through fraudulent means, he runs her car off the road, leaving her in a coma. When Catherine finally reaches her breaking point and readies herself to leave him, George drugs Catherine and kills her with an axe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='pop_112098']One of the most startling things about this conclusion is that the viewer is supposed to find some semblance of satisfaction in the aftermath of Catherine’s gory murder. We see her spirit join forces with the ghost of the last woman murdered in the house, to make sure that George doesn’t get away. They wake Justine from her coma so she can tell police what George did. Then they guide a sailboat carrying an escaping George into the eye of a storm, and to his certain death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Writer/director \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0075849/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shari Springer Berman\u003c/a> told \u003cem>Decider\u003c/em> that she viewed the movie’s message as empowering. “I was excited to make a film where we showed a woman trying to find her voice, and to get her voice with the help of some very unexpected allies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s all well and good, but in \u003cem>Things Heard and Seen\u003c/em>—just as in \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em>—the punishment for a woman seeking liberation is death. The fact that the movie asks us to celebrate this outcome because it results in the punishment of a sociopath is fairly astonishing. Even more so because it’s also exactly what happens at the end of \u003cem>Promising Young Woman\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the first half of its narrative, \u003cem>Promising Young Woman\u003c/em>—also like \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em>—offers wish fulfillment for women. When we meet her, Cassie is already wide awake to life’s misogynistic realities. She has been since her best friend Nina’s rape and subsequent suicide in college. Now, in a defiant expression of vengeance, Cassie goes to clubs alone, acts inebriated and waits for a “nice guy” to help her. Once these men try to take physical advantage of her (and they always do), Cassie snaps awake and teaches them a lesson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i5kiFDunk8\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of \u003cem>Promising Young Woman\u003c/em>’s great successes is in its portrayal of predators. These are not outwardly creepy, drooling boogie men. They are men who look and act, on the surface at least, like people you know. Driving the point home further is the fact that each of them is played by a beloved comic actor—\u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3931538/?ref_=tt_cl_t3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sam Richardson\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0111013/?ref_=tt_cl_t1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Adam Brody\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0339011/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t23\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Max Greenfield\u003c/a> all appear. This, the movie quietly informs the men watching, is why women live in fear. It’s impossible to tell the difference between the nice guys and the would-be rapists until it’s too late.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is when Cassie tries to exact revenge on Al, the man who raped Nina, that the narrative goes wildly awry. Al manages to get free from Cassie’s handcuffs and murders her; smothering her to death before callously burning her body. It’s a vicious and deeply disappointing end for a realistically flawed character who simply wanted to feel some semblance of justice in her lifetime. Similar to \u003cem>Things Heard and Seen\u003c/em>, the viewer is supposed to find subsequent relief from the fact that Cassie’s death sets off a chain of events that results in the arrest of Nina’s rapist—this time, for murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='pop_103560']\u003ca href=\"https://variety.com/2020/film/news/promising-young-woman-carey-mulligan-emerald-fennell-1234848775/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Variety\u003c/em>\u003c/a> called \u003cem>Promising Young Woman\u003c/em> “the most audacious, feminist movie of the year.” And the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> declared that problematic ending “the movie’s most authentic moment… \u003cem>Promising Young Woman\u003c/em> isn’t a revenge fantasy so much as a sad tale of warped grief and blazing fury.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last December, director \u003ca href=\"https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a35045490/promising-young-woman-ending-explained/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Emerald Fennel told \u003cem>Harper’s Bazaar\u003c/em>\u003c/a>: “It was the only ending that felt real to me … That’s not to say it’s not incredibly devastating and grueling to watch. But I just couldn’t see it any other way. I wish I could! I wish I could have let myself, and everybody else, off the hook, because there is, of course, a hypothetical alternative ending to this movie that is incredibly satisfying.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Fennel made a conscious decision not to give it to us. Because when it comes to revenge movies, women aren’t ever truly allowed off the hook. Traditional rape-revenge movies—think \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1242432/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>I Spit on Your Grave\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, and yes, even 2017’s much-lauded \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/103560/revenge-is-marketed-as-a-metoo-movie-but-is-actually-part-of-the-problem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Revenge\u003c/em>\u003c/a>—are either too exploitative or too triggering to provide many women in the audience a real escape. \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0278435/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Enough\u003c/em>\u003c/a> is too long of a slog for too quick of a payoff. And Olivia Wilde’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6211976/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>A Vigilante\u003c/em>\u003c/a> provides some catharsis in the story arc, but is so relentlessly bleak throughout, it’s not something you’d ever stage a girls’ night around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It has taken Hollywood three decades to give women another revenge spree movie we could have a little fun with. But just as \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em> refused to allow our heroines to get away with it, even the candy-colored, sometimes comedic \u003cem>Promising Young Woman\u003c/em> denied us as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Women don’t need realistic endings to feminist revenge movies; we need endings that give us a respite from the frightening statistics about \u003ca href=\"https://ncadv.org/STATISTICS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rape\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://now.org/resource/violence-against-women-in-the-united-states-statistic/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">intimate partner violence\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">injustice\u003c/a> that swirl in our brains on a loop. That we still haven’t been granted that relief, even three decades after \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em> won the Oscar for best screenplay, isn’t just depressing, it’s an indication of how much further we still have to go.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The feminist classic turns 30 this month, but movies still haven't figured out how to liberate women without also punishing them.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Spoiler alert: You’re about to hear, in detail, the endings of the movies \u003cem>Promising Young Woman\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Things Heard and Seen\u003c/em>. If you don’t want to, please leave now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m about to talk about the ending of \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em> too, but if you still haven’t seen that, this probably isn’t the essay for you. The movie turned 30 on May 24 and is, at this point, woven deep into the American consciousness. Who could ever forget the image of the brand-new outlaws driving that ’66 T-Bird into the Grand Canyon, hands locked together in united defiance? Women who would rather die a fiery death on their own terms than live under the thumbs of any more men. It’s an iconic ending to an unerringly feminist movie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I absolutely hate it.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/66CP-pq7Cx0'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/66CP-pq7Cx0'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Allow me to give my ire some context. In \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em>, the titular characters are on the run after Louise murders a man who is in the process of violently raping Thelma. (We find out later that Louise had, some years earlier, herself survived a deeply traumatizing sexual assault.) After Louise’s life savings are stolen by a hitchhiker who Thelma spends the night with, Thelma robs a convenience store in order to get gas money. The friends then blow up the truck of a man who is persistently sexually harassing them as they desperately try to reach Mexico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Imagine, for a moment, how you’d feel if, at the end of \u003cem>The Shawshank Redemption\u003c/em>, instead of making it to Zihuatanejo, Andy and Red just died instead? Right at the moment when they were almost free, no less. Well, that’s how I feel every time I watch \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em>. I also think about this every time I watch \u003cem>True Romance\u003c/em> and see that even Clarence and Alabama Worley got to their beach in time. Why is it, I wonder, that Thelma and Louise are denied the happy ending granted to other pop culture outlaws?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two movies released in the last six months offer some answers. The first is \u003cem>Things Heard and Seen\u003c/em>, a supernatural thriller set in 1980 and starring Amanda Seyfried. The second is \u003cem>Promising Young Woman\u003c/em>, one of the most talked about movies of the last year, starring Carey Mulligan. Like \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em>, both of these films are driven by feminist themes. And like \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em>, they both end with our heroines dying brutal, untimely deaths.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/HCAaonjgDEA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/HCAaonjgDEA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>In \u003cem>Things Heard and Seen\u003c/em>, Seyfried’s character, Catherine, abandons a rewarding career and relocates to upstate New York at the behest of her (cheating, gaslighting) husband, George. The two move into an old farmhouse where supernatural events occur nightly. Catherine soon comes to find that the house has borne witness to two separate incidents of femicide at the hands of violent husbands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After seeing that Catherine is having a hard time advocating for herself, Catherine’s assertive new friend Justine invites her to a women’s group. George objects to this kind of female solidarity. Then, after Justine finds out that George is having an affair \u003cem>and\u003c/em> that he got his job through fraudulent means, he runs her car off the road, leaving her in a coma. When Catherine finally reaches her breaking point and readies herself to leave him, George drugs Catherine and kills her with an axe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>One of the most startling things about this conclusion is that the viewer is supposed to find some semblance of satisfaction in the aftermath of Catherine’s gory murder. We see her spirit join forces with the ghost of the last woman murdered in the house, to make sure that George doesn’t get away. They wake Justine from her coma so she can tell police what George did. Then they guide a sailboat carrying an escaping George into the eye of a storm, and to his certain death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Writer/director \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0075849/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shari Springer Berman\u003c/a> told \u003cem>Decider\u003c/em> that she viewed the movie’s message as empowering. “I was excited to make a film where we showed a woman trying to find her voice, and to get her voice with the help of some very unexpected allies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s all well and good, but in \u003cem>Things Heard and Seen\u003c/em>—just as in \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em>—the punishment for a woman seeking liberation is death. The fact that the movie asks us to celebrate this outcome because it results in the punishment of a sociopath is fairly astonishing. Even more so because it’s also exactly what happens at the end of \u003cem>Promising Young Woman\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the first half of its narrative, \u003cem>Promising Young Woman\u003c/em>—also like \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em>—offers wish fulfillment for women. When we meet her, Cassie is already wide awake to life’s misogynistic realities. She has been since her best friend Nina’s rape and subsequent suicide in college. Now, in a defiant expression of vengeance, Cassie goes to clubs alone, acts inebriated and waits for a “nice guy” to help her. Once these men try to take physical advantage of her (and they always do), Cassie snaps awake and teaches them a lesson.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/7i5kiFDunk8'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/7i5kiFDunk8'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>One of \u003cem>Promising Young Woman\u003c/em>’s great successes is in its portrayal of predators. These are not outwardly creepy, drooling boogie men. They are men who look and act, on the surface at least, like people you know. Driving the point home further is the fact that each of them is played by a beloved comic actor—\u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3931538/?ref_=tt_cl_t3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sam Richardson\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0111013/?ref_=tt_cl_t1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Adam Brody\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0339011/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t23\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Max Greenfield\u003c/a> all appear. This, the movie quietly informs the men watching, is why women live in fear. It’s impossible to tell the difference between the nice guys and the would-be rapists until it’s too late.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is when Cassie tries to exact revenge on Al, the man who raped Nina, that the narrative goes wildly awry. Al manages to get free from Cassie’s handcuffs and murders her; smothering her to death before callously burning her body. It’s a vicious and deeply disappointing end for a realistically flawed character who simply wanted to feel some semblance of justice in her lifetime. Similar to \u003cem>Things Heard and Seen\u003c/em>, the viewer is supposed to find subsequent relief from the fact that Cassie’s death sets off a chain of events that results in the arrest of Nina’s rapist—this time, for murder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://variety.com/2020/film/news/promising-young-woman-carey-mulligan-emerald-fennell-1234848775/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Variety\u003c/em>\u003c/a> called \u003cem>Promising Young Woman\u003c/em> “the most audacious, feminist movie of the year.” And the \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em> declared that problematic ending “the movie’s most authentic moment… \u003cem>Promising Young Woman\u003c/em> isn’t a revenge fantasy so much as a sad tale of warped grief and blazing fury.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last December, director \u003ca href=\"https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a35045490/promising-young-woman-ending-explained/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Emerald Fennel told \u003cem>Harper’s Bazaar\u003c/em>\u003c/a>: “It was the only ending that felt real to me … That’s not to say it’s not incredibly devastating and grueling to watch. But I just couldn’t see it any other way. I wish I could! I wish I could have let myself, and everybody else, off the hook, because there is, of course, a hypothetical alternative ending to this movie that is incredibly satisfying.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Fennel made a conscious decision not to give it to us. Because when it comes to revenge movies, women aren’t ever truly allowed off the hook. Traditional rape-revenge movies—think \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1242432/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>I Spit on Your Grave\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, and yes, even 2017’s much-lauded \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/103560/revenge-is-marketed-as-a-metoo-movie-but-is-actually-part-of-the-problem\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Revenge\u003c/em>\u003c/a>—are either too exploitative or too triggering to provide many women in the audience a real escape. \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0278435/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Enough\u003c/em>\u003c/a> is too long of a slog for too quick of a payoff. And Olivia Wilde’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6211976/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>A Vigilante\u003c/em>\u003c/a> provides some catharsis in the story arc, but is so relentlessly bleak throughout, it’s not something you’d ever stage a girls’ night around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It has taken Hollywood three decades to give women another revenge spree movie we could have a little fun with. But just as \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em> refused to allow our heroines to get away with it, even the candy-colored, sometimes comedic \u003cem>Promising Young Woman\u003c/em> denied us as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Women don’t need realistic endings to feminist revenge movies; we need endings that give us a respite from the frightening statistics about \u003ca href=\"https://ncadv.org/STATISTICS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rape\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://now.org/resource/violence-against-women-in-the-united-states-statistic/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">intimate partner violence\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">injustice\u003c/a> that swirl in our brains on a loop. That we still haven’t been granted that relief, even three decades after \u003cem>Thelma & Louise\u003c/em> won the Oscar for best screenplay, isn’t just depressing, it’s an indication of how much further we still have to go.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "ok-but-what-is-solidarity",
"title": "OK, But... What Is Solidarity?",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">S\u003c/span>olidarity: it’s a loaded term. Convoluted and nuanced, very important in concept, definitely overused as an expression, and not always highlighted when practiced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the \u003cem>practice\u003c/em> of solidarity is a normal part of co-existing with each other. Right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solidarity has been on my mind a lot lately, especially in regard to violence, the Asian community, the African American community and policing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this week, Congress passed \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/05/18/997847571/congress-passes-bill-to-counter-the-rise-in-anti-asian-hate-crimes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act\u003c/a>, a federal bill created to help further document and ultimately curb instances of anti-Asian hate crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislation passed with rare bipartisan support, a clear response to what \u003ca href=\"https://stopaapihate.org/national-report-through-march-2021/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stop AAPI Hate\u003c/a>‘s website shows as an increase in anti-Asian violence reported across the board—verbal, physical and online. The majority of the reports come from California, including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/05/05/994055360/man-arrested-in-san-francisco-stabbing-of-2-asian-women\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stabbing of two older Asian women in San Francisco\u003c/a> earlier this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the details about hate crimes and they way they’re punished require nuance. A recent episode of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11872804/with-calls-to-stopaapihate-are-more-hate-crime-laws-the-solution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Bay\u003c/a> podcast illustrates some issues with the current legal definition of “hate crimes”—that they’re an accessory to another charge, for example, and often hard to identify as a motive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And about those motives: who are the perpetrators in each case, and what’s the reason for their actions? This has brought up discussions about violence manifesting as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a35635188/anti-asian-racism-history-violence/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">form of white supremacy\u003c/a>, as well as the notion that African Americans are targeting Asians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13894382\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13894382\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Image-from-iOS-2-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Image-from-iOS-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Image-from-iOS-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Image-from-iOS-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Image-from-iOS-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Image-from-iOS-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Image-from-iOS-2.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of demonstrators hold signs that say, “Stop Asian Hate” during a vigil and rally in San Francisco’s Chinatown on March 20, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I read a piece about the \u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/22321234/black-asian-american-tensions-solidarity-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">historical division between the two groups\u003c/a>, revisited reports on the killing of Latasha Harlins and the death of Vincent Chin. I revisited \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/cDp38sltic8?t=365\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this quote\u003c/a> from the late Mike “Dream” Francisco about Southeast Asian folks getting into the same street life that Black and Brown folks find themselves in, because of similar struggles. I even thought back to my experience, and how the first person in my circle to die of violence was a middle-school friend named Norro, who was Cambodian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past two months I’ve participated in two panel discussions about violence in the community and kept tabs on the uptick in violence in inner-cities across America. In Oakland, where today the city counted its \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/05/20/man-fatally-shot-in-east-oakland-41/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">53rd homicide\u003c/a> of the year, the issue of violence runs far deeper than any panel discussion can possibly dig.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Add to that the tug o’ war between those who believe in defunding police and those who say there should be an increase in police department funding, \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2021/02/12/oakland-chinatown-policing-hate-crimes-solidarity/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">specifically as a reaction to anti-Asian violence\u003c/a>. And of course, that intertwines with the topic of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13896306/public-safety-for-asian-americans-starts-with-nurturing-our-communities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">other public safety resources\u003c/a> for community members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now you see why it’s a lot to think about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But late last month, doing a little art in community made it all so simple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897594\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897594\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00207-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Malik Seneferu works on a mural in Oakland's Chinatown.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00207-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00207-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00207-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00207-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00207-1536x1026.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00207.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Malik Seneferu works on a mural in Oakland’s Chinatown. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>t Madison Park in Oakland’s Chinatown, I talked to artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.cececarpio.com/\">Cece Carpio\u003c/a> as she and my daughter painted what she described as a “diver being swallowed by a sea monster.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cece explained that she’s juggling a lot right now: her day job connecting people to resources during the pandemic through the City of San Francisco’s COVID relief task force, working through the planning stages of a new 100-foot mural that she’s set to paint later this year on the side of the Luggage Store gallery in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, and creating community events, like this one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cece worked along with Tommy Wong of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/civicdesignstudio510/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Civic Design Studio\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/goodgoodeatz/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Good Good Eatz\u003c/a> to organize the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CNYcx0rBjws/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Love And Protect: Community Mural Series.\u003c/a> They were also part of the dozen-plus professional artists painting alongside community members. This meant my daughter was throwing up paint with the likes of published illustrator \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/RobertTres\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Robert Liu-Trujillo\u003c/a> and the first woman member of the Black Panther Party, \u003ca href=\"http://www.theblackwomanisgod.com/artists/jtlewis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joan Tarika Lewis\u003c/a>.[aside postID='arts_13868732']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Backed by \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/asians4blklives/\">Asians 4 Black Lives\u003c/a>,\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/curyj510/\"> CuryJ\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oakchinatowncoalition/\">Oakland Chinatown Coalition\u003c/a>,\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/trustyourstruggle/\"> Trust Your Struggle\u003c/a> and more community organizations, the event was focused on showing solidarity through visual arts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The intention wasn’t just to heal those impacted by violence against members of the Asian community, but to also continue to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13895462/in-oakland-building-black-and-asian-solidarity-at-the-street-level\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dispel the notion\u003c/a> that it’s a ‘Black versus Asian’ thing happening in the Bay Area, and across the nation, Cece said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emory Douglas, Black Panther Party Minister of Culture, was also at the park that day, and a few days later we discussed the idea of solidarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s an ongoing process,” Douglas told me during a phone call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Douglas grew up in community with Asian groups in the ’60s and ’70s. He used to shoot pool with the Red Guard in Chinatown, and when it was time to stand together for social justice issues, they did so. He says he’s clear on the historical context of Black solidarity with the Asian community. And he’s clear that former President Trump’s anti-Asian statements about the spread of COVID-19 have fanned the flames contributing to the rise in hate crimes over the past year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Emory Douglas is banking on the next generation to take the concept of solidarity a bit further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have young people, very progressive people,” says Douglas, “who are becoming more aware and less culturally conditioned to ‘the tradition,’ and are living more in the context of solidarity. They’re transcending the idea of just thinking about themselves, and becoming aware of what’s going on in the real world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-13897593\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_4976-2-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_4976-2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_4976-2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_4976-2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_4976-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_4976-2.jpg 1344w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sharing equal footing as racial solidarity during that weekend in Oakland’s Chinatown was the theme of intergenerational solidarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a real honor to show up when my elders, especially my mom, invites me to show up,” said Elokin Orton-Cheung, an herbalist who painted with their mother on the canvas next to my daughter and me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ming Mur-Ray, an artist and Elokin’s mother, told me she was surprised by the turnout. “I’m moved to see the seniors from Harrison Senior Housing came out and participated,” said Ming, noting that four out of eight members of the group she works with showed up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the residents of senior housing, a fear of simply walking down the sidewalk is warranted, given the street attacks on Asian elders. But participation in an anti-Asian violence event was clearly important enough to take the risk. “One person came back on Sunday, by herself,” said Ming. “Because she wrote a word wrong, so she painted it over and corrected it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897598\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897598\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/SOlidarity.MAIN_-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A collection of completed murals in Oakland's Chinatown. The murals, meant to be portable, are currently moving from location to location.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/SOlidarity.MAIN_-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/SOlidarity.MAIN_-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/SOlidarity.MAIN_-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/SOlidarity.MAIN_-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/SOlidarity.MAIN_-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/SOlidarity.MAIN_.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A collection of completed murals in Oakland’s Chinatown. The murals, meant to be portable, are currently moving from location to location. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Elokin explained that events like this build on years and of community organizing, but there’s something different when art is the focus. “We’ve been coming together for vigils and protests, and coming together for loss of life in our community, but coming together to celebrate—coming together for sacredness in Black and Asian communities—is really beautiful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That day in the park I watched San Francisco muralist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lileli82/\">Elaine Chu\u003c/a> paint one canvas, and TDK’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/agentdecoy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spie \u003c/a>prep his aerosol cans for action on another. Not far from us, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/karen_seneferu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Karen Seneferu\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/maliksart/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Malik Seneferu\u003c/a> were already putting a regal shade of purple paint on a canvas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theletterthi/\">Thitiwat Phromratanapongse \u003c/a>introduced himself as T and took a break from painting to pass me a towel. He’d overheard me joking that I was going to dip my daughter in Lake Merritt to wash her off—the paint she’d used to create her fictional sea monster and diver had also consumed her outfit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few people wore shirts that read “unity” in several different languages. Images of tigers and panthers were painted. In the middle of the labyrinth permanently marked on the park’s blacktop stood an altar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, if this isn’t “solidarity,” what is?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897597\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897597\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00247-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Flowers and a small altar at the center of a Black and Asian solidarity event in Oakland's Chinatown.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00247-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00247-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00247-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00247-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00247-1536x1026.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00247.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flowers and a small altar at the center of a Black and Asian solidarity event in Oakland’s Chinatown. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">J\u003c/span>ust last week, the 6-foot by 6-foot canvases, about 17 of them, were mounted in various businesses in Old Oakland, many of them in old Swan’s Market. A significant place for the artwork, as Cece Carpio points out, that area was once a part of the old Chinatown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For me, solidarity is very simple,” Carpio explained recently. “It’s how we co-exist.” Bingo. Simply coexisting, and knowing that as a human, there are certain expectations for existence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cece elaborated: “What are common grounds? What are collective decisions? What is collective hope? And what is our collective experience?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A series of questions that might lead to confusion, but ends with two specific thoughts: What is it we want to see collectively? And how do we work collaboratively, pursuing this vision of the world we want to live in?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using our respective communities as an example, Cece said, “We have different languages, different cultures, we eat different food. But essentially, we come together. In the same way there are common race and class struggles, there are similarities. In our collective visions, our collective goal is to live in equity, to live in justice.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "OK, But... What Is Solidarity? | KQED",
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"subhead": "Amidst Black and Asian tension, what does \"solidarity\" mean, exactly? A day spent with art yields answers.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">S\u003c/span>olidarity: it’s a loaded term. Convoluted and nuanced, very important in concept, definitely overused as an expression, and not always highlighted when practiced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the \u003cem>practice\u003c/em> of solidarity is a normal part of co-existing with each other. Right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solidarity has been on my mind a lot lately, especially in regard to violence, the Asian community, the African American community and policing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this week, Congress passed \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/05/18/997847571/congress-passes-bill-to-counter-the-rise-in-anti-asian-hate-crimes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act\u003c/a>, a federal bill created to help further document and ultimately curb instances of anti-Asian hate crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislation passed with rare bipartisan support, a clear response to what \u003ca href=\"https://stopaapihate.org/national-report-through-march-2021/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stop AAPI Hate\u003c/a>‘s website shows as an increase in anti-Asian violence reported across the board—verbal, physical and online. The majority of the reports come from California, including the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2021/05/05/994055360/man-arrested-in-san-francisco-stabbing-of-2-asian-women\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stabbing of two older Asian women in San Francisco\u003c/a> earlier this month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the details about hate crimes and they way they’re punished require nuance. A recent episode of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11872804/with-calls-to-stopaapihate-are-more-hate-crime-laws-the-solution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Bay\u003c/a> podcast illustrates some issues with the current legal definition of “hate crimes”—that they’re an accessory to another charge, for example, and often hard to identify as a motive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And about those motives: who are the perpetrators in each case, and what’s the reason for their actions? This has brought up discussions about violence manifesting as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a35635188/anti-asian-racism-history-violence/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">form of white supremacy\u003c/a>, as well as the notion that African Americans are targeting Asians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13894382\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13894382\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Image-from-iOS-2-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Image-from-iOS-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Image-from-iOS-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Image-from-iOS-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Image-from-iOS-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Image-from-iOS-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/03/Image-from-iOS-2.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A group of demonstrators hold signs that say, “Stop Asian Hate” during a vigil and rally in San Francisco’s Chinatown on March 20, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>I read a piece about the \u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/22321234/black-asian-american-tensions-solidarity-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">historical division between the two groups\u003c/a>, revisited reports on the killing of Latasha Harlins and the death of Vincent Chin. I revisited \u003ca href=\"https://youtu.be/cDp38sltic8?t=365\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this quote\u003c/a> from the late Mike “Dream” Francisco about Southeast Asian folks getting into the same street life that Black and Brown folks find themselves in, because of similar struggles. I even thought back to my experience, and how the first person in my circle to die of violence was a middle-school friend named Norro, who was Cambodian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the past two months I’ve participated in two panel discussions about violence in the community and kept tabs on the uptick in violence in inner-cities across America. In Oakland, where today the city counted its \u003ca href=\"https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2021/05/20/man-fatally-shot-in-east-oakland-41/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">53rd homicide\u003c/a> of the year, the issue of violence runs far deeper than any panel discussion can possibly dig.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Add to that the tug o’ war between those who believe in defunding police and those who say there should be an increase in police department funding, \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2021/02/12/oakland-chinatown-policing-hate-crimes-solidarity/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">specifically as a reaction to anti-Asian violence\u003c/a>. And of course, that intertwines with the topic of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13896306/public-safety-for-asian-americans-starts-with-nurturing-our-communities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">other public safety resources\u003c/a> for community members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now you see why it’s a lot to think about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But late last month, doing a little art in community made it all so simple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897594\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897594\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00207-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Malik Seneferu works on a mural in Oakland's Chinatown.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00207-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00207-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00207-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00207-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00207-1536x1026.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00207.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Malik Seneferu works on a mural in Oakland’s Chinatown. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>t Madison Park in Oakland’s Chinatown, I talked to artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.cececarpio.com/\">Cece Carpio\u003c/a> as she and my daughter painted what she described as a “diver being swallowed by a sea monster.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cece explained that she’s juggling a lot right now: her day job connecting people to resources during the pandemic through the City of San Francisco’s COVID relief task force, working through the planning stages of a new 100-foot mural that she’s set to paint later this year on the side of the Luggage Store gallery in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, and creating community events, like this one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cece worked along with Tommy Wong of \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/civicdesignstudio510/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Civic Design Studio\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/goodgoodeatz/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Good Good Eatz\u003c/a> to organize the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CNYcx0rBjws/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Love And Protect: Community Mural Series.\u003c/a> They were also part of the dozen-plus professional artists painting alongside community members. This meant my daughter was throwing up paint with the likes of published illustrator \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/RobertTres\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Robert Liu-Trujillo\u003c/a> and the first woman member of the Black Panther Party, \u003ca href=\"http://www.theblackwomanisgod.com/artists/jtlewis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joan Tarika Lewis\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Backed by \u003ca href=\"https://linktr.ee/asians4blklives/\">Asians 4 Black Lives\u003c/a>,\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/curyj510/\"> CuryJ\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oakchinatowncoalition/\">Oakland Chinatown Coalition\u003c/a>,\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/trustyourstruggle/\"> Trust Your Struggle\u003c/a> and more community organizations, the event was focused on showing solidarity through visual arts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The intention wasn’t just to heal those impacted by violence against members of the Asian community, but to also continue to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13895462/in-oakland-building-black-and-asian-solidarity-at-the-street-level\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dispel the notion\u003c/a> that it’s a ‘Black versus Asian’ thing happening in the Bay Area, and across the nation, Cece said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emory Douglas, Black Panther Party Minister of Culture, was also at the park that day, and a few days later we discussed the idea of solidarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s an ongoing process,” Douglas told me during a phone call.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Douglas grew up in community with Asian groups in the ’60s and ’70s. He used to shoot pool with the Red Guard in Chinatown, and when it was time to stand together for social justice issues, they did so. He says he’s clear on the historical context of Black solidarity with the Asian community. And he’s clear that former President Trump’s anti-Asian statements about the spread of COVID-19 have fanned the flames contributing to the rise in hate crimes over the past year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Emory Douglas is banking on the next generation to take the concept of solidarity a bit further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have young people, very progressive people,” says Douglas, “who are becoming more aware and less culturally conditioned to ‘the tradition,’ and are living more in the context of solidarity. They’re transcending the idea of just thinking about themselves, and becoming aware of what’s going on in the real world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-13897593\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_4976-2-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_4976-2-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_4976-2-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_4976-2-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_4976-2-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_4976-2.jpg 1344w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sharing equal footing as racial solidarity during that weekend in Oakland’s Chinatown was the theme of intergenerational solidarity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a real honor to show up when my elders, especially my mom, invites me to show up,” said Elokin Orton-Cheung, an herbalist who painted with their mother on the canvas next to my daughter and me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ming Mur-Ray, an artist and Elokin’s mother, told me she was surprised by the turnout. “I’m moved to see the seniors from Harrison Senior Housing came out and participated,” said Ming, noting that four out of eight members of the group she works with showed up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the residents of senior housing, a fear of simply walking down the sidewalk is warranted, given the street attacks on Asian elders. But participation in an anti-Asian violence event was clearly important enough to take the risk. “One person came back on Sunday, by herself,” said Ming. “Because she wrote a word wrong, so she painted it over and corrected it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897598\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897598\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/SOlidarity.MAIN_-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A collection of completed murals in Oakland's Chinatown. The murals, meant to be portable, are currently moving from location to location.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/SOlidarity.MAIN_-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/SOlidarity.MAIN_-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/SOlidarity.MAIN_-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/SOlidarity.MAIN_-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/SOlidarity.MAIN_-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/SOlidarity.MAIN_.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A collection of completed murals in Oakland’s Chinatown. The murals, meant to be portable, are currently moving from location to location. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Elokin explained that events like this build on years and of community organizing, but there’s something different when art is the focus. “We’ve been coming together for vigils and protests, and coming together for loss of life in our community, but coming together to celebrate—coming together for sacredness in Black and Asian communities—is really beautiful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That day in the park I watched San Francisco muralist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lileli82/\">Elaine Chu\u003c/a> paint one canvas, and TDK’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/agentdecoy/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Spie \u003c/a>prep his aerosol cans for action on another. Not far from us, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/karen_seneferu/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Karen Seneferu\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/maliksart/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Malik Seneferu\u003c/a> were already putting a regal shade of purple paint on a canvas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/theletterthi/\">Thitiwat Phromratanapongse \u003c/a>introduced himself as T and took a break from painting to pass me a towel. He’d overheard me joking that I was going to dip my daughter in Lake Merritt to wash her off—the paint she’d used to create her fictional sea monster and diver had also consumed her outfit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few people wore shirts that read “unity” in several different languages. Images of tigers and panthers were painted. In the middle of the labyrinth permanently marked on the park’s blacktop stood an altar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, if this isn’t “solidarity,” what is?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897597\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897597\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00247-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Flowers and a small altar at the center of a Black and Asian solidarity event in Oakland's Chinatown.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00247-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00247-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00247-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00247-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00247-1536x1026.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/DSC00247.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Flowers and a small altar at the center of a Black and Asian solidarity event in Oakland’s Chinatown. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">J\u003c/span>ust last week, the 6-foot by 6-foot canvases, about 17 of them, were mounted in various businesses in Old Oakland, many of them in old Swan’s Market. A significant place for the artwork, as Cece Carpio points out, that area was once a part of the old Chinatown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For me, solidarity is very simple,” Carpio explained recently. “It’s how we co-exist.” Bingo. Simply coexisting, and knowing that as a human, there are certain expectations for existence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cece elaborated: “What are common grounds? What are collective decisions? What is collective hope? And what is our collective experience?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A series of questions that might lead to confusion, but ends with two specific thoughts: What is it we want to see collectively? And how do we work collaboratively, pursuing this vision of the world we want to live in?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Using our respective communities as an example, Cece said, “We have different languages, different cultures, we eat different food. But essentially, we come together. In the same way there are common race and class struggles, there are similarities. In our collective visions, our collective goal is to live in equity, to live in justice.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "A Pacific Football Fish Just Arrived in California, and Now is the Time to Leave California",
"headTitle": "A Pacific Football Fish Just Arrived in California, and Now is the Time to Leave California | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>I don’t want to be dramatic. Actually, scratch that—yes, I do. Because this isn’t KQED Science, it’s KQED Arts and Culture. And some of us over here (mostly me) are not equipped for the moment when aqua monsters climb 3,000 feet out of their natural, deep sea habitats and lie dead on the shoreline in front of God and everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s what happened earlier this month on the shores of Crystal Cove State Park in Orange County, when this thing showed up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897298\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897298\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.10.14-PM-800x799.png\" alt=\"Is that a creepy arm growing out of your head, or are you just happy to see me?\" width=\"800\" height=\"799\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.10.14-PM-800x799.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.10.14-PM-1020x1019.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.10.14-PM-160x160.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.10.14-PM-768x767.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.10.14-PM-1536x1534.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.10.14-PM.png 1612w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Is that a creepy arm growing out of your head, or are you just happy to see me? \u003ccite>(Facebook/ @crystalcovestateparkofficial)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If it were up to me, we’d be calling it a Toothy Terror Dome. Or an Armed Piranha, on account of that appendage sticking out of its head. Someone on Facebook suggested “Nope Fish,” which I’d settle for too. But no. According to Crystal Cove State Park’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/crystalcovestateparkofficial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>very calm\u003c/em> Facebook page\u003c/a>, this razor-faced death pod is “most likely” called a \u003ca href=\"https://www.calacademy.org/explore-science/pacific-footballfish\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pacific Football Fish\u003c/a>. And it’s apparently part of the Anglerfish family, which contains 200 species. (Not a Thanksgiving table I’d want to visit, thanks.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Crystal Cove boffins say that the demon disc is a tricky little so-and-so, and uses that arm dangler to lure other creatures to their murky deaths. The “stalk on the head [has] bioluminescent tips,” Crystal Cove says, “used to entice prey in the darkness of waters.” As for the foolish creatures that end up falling for that whole source-of-light ruse? Why, they get gobbled up by “teeth, like pointed shards of glass, [that] are transparent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement that is in no way comforting, Crystal Cove State Park explains that these malevolent meal seekers have mouths that are “capable of sucking up and swallowing prey the size of their own body.” And that body, dear reader, can measure as much as 24 inches long. So, this fish could potentially eat a chihuahua. Or a small raccoon. Or a small otter. Or a small possum. Just, all of the cute things, basically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897300\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897300\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.23.29-PM-800x800.png\" alt=\"It's not quite as bad from this angle—but it's still not great, huh?\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.23.29-PM-800x800.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.23.29-PM-1020x1020.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.23.29-PM-160x160.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.23.29-PM-768x768.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.23.29-PM-1536x1536.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.23.29-PM.png 1612w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">It’s not quite as bad from this angle—but it’s still not great, huh? \u003ccite>(Facebook/ @crystalcovestateparkofficial)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The staff at Crystal Cove State Park very quickly surmised that the demon disc is a female. They know this because apparently the males only grow to about an inch long. Which sounds almost cute, until you find out that they “latch onto the female with their teeth and become sexual parasites, eventually coalescing with the female until nothing is left of their form but their testes for reproduction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taking an unfeasibly optimistic approach, Crystal Cove State Park tried to end its Facebook post on a high note without giving us all nightmares. “Seeing this strange and fascinating fish is a testament to the diversity of marine life lurking below the water’s surface in California’s MPAs [marine protected areas],” it said. “And as scientists continue to learn more about these deep sea creatures, it’s important to reflect on how much is still to be learned from our wonderful ocean.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>K. But, you know, it’s also important to reflect on never ever going into that ocean ever again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sweet dreams, everybody!\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "A demon hell fish washed up on the shore in Orange County and it's big enough to eat a chihuahua, so, bye, basically.",
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"title": "A Pacific Football Fish Just Arrived in California, and Now is the Time to Leave California | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>I don’t want to be dramatic. Actually, scratch that—yes, I do. Because this isn’t KQED Science, it’s KQED Arts and Culture. And some of us over here (mostly me) are not equipped for the moment when aqua monsters climb 3,000 feet out of their natural, deep sea habitats and lie dead on the shoreline in front of God and everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s what happened earlier this month on the shores of Crystal Cove State Park in Orange County, when this thing showed up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897298\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897298\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.10.14-PM-800x799.png\" alt=\"Is that a creepy arm growing out of your head, or are you just happy to see me?\" width=\"800\" height=\"799\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.10.14-PM-800x799.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.10.14-PM-1020x1019.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.10.14-PM-160x160.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.10.14-PM-768x767.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.10.14-PM-1536x1534.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.10.14-PM.png 1612w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Is that a creepy arm growing out of your head, or are you just happy to see me? \u003ccite>(Facebook/ @crystalcovestateparkofficial)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If it were up to me, we’d be calling it a Toothy Terror Dome. Or an Armed Piranha, on account of that appendage sticking out of its head. Someone on Facebook suggested “Nope Fish,” which I’d settle for too. But no. According to Crystal Cove State Park’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/crystalcovestateparkofficial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>very calm\u003c/em> Facebook page\u003c/a>, this razor-faced death pod is “most likely” called a \u003ca href=\"https://www.calacademy.org/explore-science/pacific-footballfish\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pacific Football Fish\u003c/a>. And it’s apparently part of the Anglerfish family, which contains 200 species. (Not a Thanksgiving table I’d want to visit, thanks.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Crystal Cove boffins say that the demon disc is a tricky little so-and-so, and uses that arm dangler to lure other creatures to their murky deaths. The “stalk on the head [has] bioluminescent tips,” Crystal Cove says, “used to entice prey in the darkness of waters.” As for the foolish creatures that end up falling for that whole source-of-light ruse? Why, they get gobbled up by “teeth, like pointed shards of glass, [that] are transparent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement that is in no way comforting, Crystal Cove State Park explains that these malevolent meal seekers have mouths that are “capable of sucking up and swallowing prey the size of their own body.” And that body, dear reader, can measure as much as 24 inches long. So, this fish could potentially eat a chihuahua. Or a small raccoon. Or a small otter. Or a small possum. Just, all of the cute things, basically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897300\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897300\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.23.29-PM-800x800.png\" alt=\"It's not quite as bad from this angle—but it's still not great, huh?\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.23.29-PM-800x800.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.23.29-PM-1020x1020.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.23.29-PM-160x160.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.23.29-PM-768x768.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.23.29-PM-1536x1536.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Screen-Shot-2021-05-17-at-5.23.29-PM.png 1612w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">It’s not quite as bad from this angle—but it’s still not great, huh? \u003ccite>(Facebook/ @crystalcovestateparkofficial)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The staff at Crystal Cove State Park very quickly surmised that the demon disc is a female. They know this because apparently the males only grow to about an inch long. Which sounds almost cute, until you find out that they “latch onto the female with their teeth and become sexual parasites, eventually coalescing with the female until nothing is left of their form but their testes for reproduction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taking an unfeasibly optimistic approach, Crystal Cove State Park tried to end its Facebook post on a high note without giving us all nightmares. “Seeing this strange and fascinating fish is a testament to the diversity of marine life lurking below the water’s surface in California’s MPAs [marine protected areas],” it said. “And as scientists continue to learn more about these deep sea creatures, it’s important to reflect on how much is still to be learned from our wonderful ocean.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>K. But, you know, it’s also important to reflect on never ever going into that ocean ever again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sweet dreams, everybody!\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897062\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_8986-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A dried shell of a former living creature at Lake Folsom.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897062\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_8986-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_8986-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_8986-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_8986-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_8986-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_8986-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_8986-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dried shell of a former living creature at Lake Folsom. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>mong all my \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/rightnowish\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">other work\u003c/a>, I haven’t sat down and written a column in nearly a month. Writing droughts are natural, and I’m in the thick of one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leads for potential stories are piled up in my inbox. Anxiety is kicking my ass. Plus I’ve got this back pain that’s causing my left arm to go numb when I sit down. An inflamed muscle is putting pressure on a nerve near my neck, the doctor and chiropractor both tell me; likely a byproduct of bad posture and built-up stress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I’ve been stretching, icing my back, and taking meds. Oh, and spending time in nature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I love nature. Luckily, my “backyard”—Northern California—is home to landscapes that look like the images on postcards they sell at gas stations. Unfortunately, this land also seems to be as flammable as newspaper dipped in kerosene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The peril this region faces due to drought, lack of investment in infrastructure and man-made manipulation of the environment is already one of the greatest stresses of our lifetime. And when you’re paying attention to the issues facing your outdoor weekend hike, finding relief in nature becomes a convoluted idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897059\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 768px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13897059\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_1232.jpg\" alt=\"One of the many redwood trees in the Muir Woods.\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_1232.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_1232-160x213.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of the many redwood trees at Muir Woods. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Following last month’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/04/21/governor-newsom-takes-action-to-respond-to-drought-conditions/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">official announcement\u003c/a> from Governor Newsom that California is indeed in the throes of another “drought,” the \u003cem>Los Angeles Times\u003c/em>’ editorial board published a piece proclaiming, in essence: this isn’t a drought, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-05-06/editorial-there-is-no-drought\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">it’s the new climate\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As if on cue, over the weekend the National Weather Service issued the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/weather-news/article251277629.html\">first red flag warning of the year\u003c/a>—a rare occurrence for as early as May. Sure enough, a number of small fires popped up around Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are the things I think about when I’m out in the Bay Area’s enclaves of nature. Especially when I’m reminded of the bigger, global issue, through news of \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/22/fact-sheet-president-biden-sets-2030-greenhouse-gas-pollution-reduction-target-aimed-at-creating-good-paying-union-jobs-and-securing-u-s-leadership-on-clean-energy-technologies/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">President Biden\u003c/a> upping the ante to cut America’s greenhouse emissions before it’s too late, or this \u003ca href=\"https://grist.org/climate-tipping-points-amazon-greenland-boreal-forest/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Grist article\u003c/a> about the way that wildfires, melting polar caps, and greenhouse emissions work in tandem to push one another to a globally destructive tipping point of no return.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Do you see why nature can be stressful?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897058\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897058\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_3863-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Folsom Lake life guard towers in the foreground, way int he distance is the lake's water. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_3863-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_3863-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_3863-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_3863-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_3863-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_3863-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_3863-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Folsom Lake lifeguard towers in the foreground. Far in the distance is the lake’s water. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span> few days ago I went to Folsom Lake, where water levels have receded so much that if you’re looking to engage in some water-related activities, you’ve got to drive along the dry lakebed for a couple minutes in order to get close to the remaining pocket of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the park is attracting hordes of folks, iPhones in hand, who come for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.rosevilletoday.com/news/roseville/folsom-lake-super-bloom/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lupine super bloom\u003c/a>, a wildly gorgeous royal purple flower that’s only growing en masse \u003cem>because\u003c/em> the water levels are so low.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few days after visiting Folsom Lake, I called a park official to check about the water levels. They told me this is the lowest they’ve seen it in the 17 years they’ve worked there, and this is the tail end of the “rainy season,” with a dry summer to come. That’s not a good sign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897099\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897099\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_5447-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"A field of wildflowers bloom on the side of the road near California's Lake Barryessa.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_5447-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_5447-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_5447-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_5447-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_5447-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_5447-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_5447.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A field of wildflowers bloom on the side of the road near California’s Lake Barryessa. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>About 95 miles west, near Lake Berryessa, wildflowers have blossomed where wildfires ravaged the ridges last year. The sight is a bit of a relief: Maybe nature can heal itself. Or, as I’m quick to think, maybe the new foliage is fuel for the next fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13865533/daps-and-hugs-im-moving-out-of-oakland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">moved\u003c/a> to the middle of this state in 2019, driving up and down I-80 regularly for the past two years (you can see why my back hurts). Around the midpoint of my trip, there’s a hill in Vacaville that I look to as a random barometer of how dry the area is. The hill was green for all of eight weeks, and has since turned caramel-colored. The fires are coming, and we haven’t even recovered from the flames of yesteryear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897061\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897061\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_0735-800x342.jpg\" alt=\"The grass on hill near Cherry Glen Road in Vacaville, turning from green to brown.\" width=\"800\" height=\"342\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_0735-800x342.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_0735-1020x436.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_0735-160x68.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_0735-768x328.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_0735.jpg 1023w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The grass on hill near Cherry Glen Road in Vacaville, turning from green to brown. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At this point, I might be hypersensitive to anything nature-related. I’m an arts and culture reporter obsessed with nature—because it’s beautiful, sure, but because I also know it dictates my areas of coverage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So now my ears perk up when I hear about the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1973805/climate-solutions-in-east-palo-alto\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rising water levels in East Palo Alto\u003c/a>, or how people still await \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11872328/survivors-stuck-in-limbo-as-pge-fire-victim-trust-pays-out-50-million-in-fees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">payouts from PG&E\u003c/a> for the utility’s role in recent wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this week on \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2021/05/11/20-photos-of-oakland-pride-on-display-at-510-day/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">510 Day\u003c/a>, I made it a point to take a walk with my kid and romanticize this magical piece of land known as the East Bay. We hit that trail near Lone Tree Point in Rodeo, just to look out over the Bay as the sun set. But my whole “pride rock” moment of enjoying everything the light touches was interrupted by the thought of how, not too far from where we stood, over near the Carquinez Strait, toxins are \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTiLPrtAYlY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">leaching into the bay from a contaminated area\u003c/a> with each wave that crashes up against the coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re gonna have to pay for that. We \u003cem>are\u003c/em> paying for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13897060\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_6338-800x1000.jpg\" alt=\"A clearing in Muir Woods\" width=\"800\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_6338-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_6338-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_6338-768x960.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_6338.jpg 819w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> don’t think I have biophobia or anything. I love being outside too much. But I can’t stop thinking about nature, and not in a good way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last Friday I went to Muir Woods for the first time. Jaw-dropping. It’s like a theme park where the main attraction is… trees. The air is fresh, the trees are ancient and you’re there caught in the middle, reminded of just how insignificant your time really is on this big spinning rock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most impressively, the trees tell their own stories. The way they lean, the burn marks from fires, the nibbles from insects and pests. The rings at the bottom of the fallen trees mark years of drought and heavy rain. Real writers, those trees are, publishing history every year—no writer’s block there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I stood under the canopy and wondered: How long this will be here? What will happen to it in my lifetime? And what can be done so that \u003cem>nothing\u003c/em> happens?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not a fear of nature that I have, it’s the fear of what will come of nature. And thus, what will come of \u003cem>us\u003c/em>. All of us. Stressed yet?\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897062\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_8986-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A dried shell of a former living creature at Lake Folsom.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897062\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_8986-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_8986-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_8986-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_8986-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_8986-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_8986-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_8986-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A dried shell of a former living creature at Lake Folsom. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>mong all my \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/rightnowish\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">other work\u003c/a>, I haven’t sat down and written a column in nearly a month. Writing droughts are natural, and I’m in the thick of one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leads for potential stories are piled up in my inbox. Anxiety is kicking my ass. Plus I’ve got this back pain that’s causing my left arm to go numb when I sit down. An inflamed muscle is putting pressure on a nerve near my neck, the doctor and chiropractor both tell me; likely a byproduct of bad posture and built-up stress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I’ve been stretching, icing my back, and taking meds. Oh, and spending time in nature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I love nature. Luckily, my “backyard”—Northern California—is home to landscapes that look like the images on postcards they sell at gas stations. Unfortunately, this land also seems to be as flammable as newspaper dipped in kerosene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The peril this region faces due to drought, lack of investment in infrastructure and man-made manipulation of the environment is already one of the greatest stresses of our lifetime. And when you’re paying attention to the issues facing your outdoor weekend hike, finding relief in nature becomes a convoluted idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897059\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 768px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13897059\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_1232.jpg\" alt=\"One of the many redwood trees in the Muir Woods.\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_1232.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_1232-160x213.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of the many redwood trees at Muir Woods. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Following last month’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/04/21/governor-newsom-takes-action-to-respond-to-drought-conditions/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">official announcement\u003c/a> from Governor Newsom that California is indeed in the throes of another “drought,” the \u003cem>Los Angeles Times\u003c/em>’ editorial board published a piece proclaiming, in essence: this isn’t a drought, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-05-06/editorial-there-is-no-drought\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">it’s the new climate\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As if on cue, over the weekend the National Weather Service issued the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/weather-news/article251277629.html\">first red flag warning of the year\u003c/a>—a rare occurrence for as early as May. Sure enough, a number of small fires popped up around Northern California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These are the things I think about when I’m out in the Bay Area’s enclaves of nature. Especially when I’m reminded of the bigger, global issue, through news of \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/22/fact-sheet-president-biden-sets-2030-greenhouse-gas-pollution-reduction-target-aimed-at-creating-good-paying-union-jobs-and-securing-u-s-leadership-on-clean-energy-technologies/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">President Biden\u003c/a> upping the ante to cut America’s greenhouse emissions before it’s too late, or this \u003ca href=\"https://grist.org/climate-tipping-points-amazon-greenland-boreal-forest/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Grist article\u003c/a> about the way that wildfires, melting polar caps, and greenhouse emissions work in tandem to push one another to a globally destructive tipping point of no return.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Do you see why nature can be stressful?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897058\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897058\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_3863-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Folsom Lake life guard towers in the foreground, way int he distance is the lake's water. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_3863-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_3863-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_3863-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_3863-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_3863-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_3863-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_3863-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Folsom Lake lifeguard towers in the foreground. Far in the distance is the lake’s water. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span> few days ago I went to Folsom Lake, where water levels have receded so much that if you’re looking to engage in some water-related activities, you’ve got to drive along the dry lakebed for a couple minutes in order to get close to the remaining pocket of water.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the park is attracting hordes of folks, iPhones in hand, who come for the \u003ca href=\"https://www.rosevilletoday.com/news/roseville/folsom-lake-super-bloom/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lupine super bloom\u003c/a>, a wildly gorgeous royal purple flower that’s only growing en masse \u003cem>because\u003c/em> the water levels are so low.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few days after visiting Folsom Lake, I called a park official to check about the water levels. They told me this is the lowest they’ve seen it in the 17 years they’ve worked there, and this is the tail end of the “rainy season,” with a dry summer to come. That’s not a good sign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897099\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897099\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_5447-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"A field of wildflowers bloom on the side of the road near California's Lake Barryessa.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_5447-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_5447-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_5447-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_5447-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_5447-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_5447-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_5447.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A field of wildflowers bloom on the side of the road near California’s Lake Barryessa. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>About 95 miles west, near Lake Berryessa, wildflowers have blossomed where wildfires ravaged the ridges last year. The sight is a bit of a relief: Maybe nature can heal itself. Or, as I’m quick to think, maybe the new foliage is fuel for the next fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13865533/daps-and-hugs-im-moving-out-of-oakland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">moved\u003c/a> to the middle of this state in 2019, driving up and down I-80 regularly for the past two years (you can see why my back hurts). Around the midpoint of my trip, there’s a hill in Vacaville that I look to as a random barometer of how dry the area is. The hill was green for all of eight weeks, and has since turned caramel-colored. The fires are coming, and we haven’t even recovered from the flames of yesteryear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13897061\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13897061\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_0735-800x342.jpg\" alt=\"The grass on hill near Cherry Glen Road in Vacaville, turning from green to brown.\" width=\"800\" height=\"342\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_0735-800x342.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_0735-1020x436.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_0735-160x68.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_0735-768x328.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_0735.jpg 1023w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The grass on hill near Cherry Glen Road in Vacaville, turning from green to brown. \u003ccite>(Pendarvis Harshaw)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At this point, I might be hypersensitive to anything nature-related. I’m an arts and culture reporter obsessed with nature—because it’s beautiful, sure, but because I also know it dictates my areas of coverage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So now my ears perk up when I hear about the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1973805/climate-solutions-in-east-palo-alto\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">rising water levels in East Palo Alto\u003c/a>, or how people still await \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11872328/survivors-stuck-in-limbo-as-pge-fire-victim-trust-pays-out-50-million-in-fees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">payouts from PG&E\u003c/a> for the utility’s role in recent wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this week on \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2021/05/11/20-photos-of-oakland-pride-on-display-at-510-day/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">510 Day\u003c/a>, I made it a point to take a walk with my kid and romanticize this magical piece of land known as the East Bay. We hit that trail near Lone Tree Point in Rodeo, just to look out over the Bay as the sun set. But my whole “pride rock” moment of enjoying everything the light touches was interrupted by the thought of how, not too far from where we stood, over near the Carquinez Strait, toxins are \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTiLPrtAYlY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">leaching into the bay from a contaminated area\u003c/a> with each wave that crashes up against the coast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re gonna have to pay for that. We \u003cem>are\u003c/em> paying for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13897060\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_6338-800x1000.jpg\" alt=\"A clearing in Muir Woods\" width=\"800\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_6338-800x1000.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_6338-160x200.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_6338-768x960.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/IMG_6338.jpg 819w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> don’t think I have biophobia or anything. I love being outside too much. But I can’t stop thinking about nature, and not in a good way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last Friday I went to Muir Woods for the first time. Jaw-dropping. It’s like a theme park where the main attraction is… trees. The air is fresh, the trees are ancient and you’re there caught in the middle, reminded of just how insignificant your time really is on this big spinning rock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most impressively, the trees tell their own stories. The way they lean, the burn marks from fires, the nibbles from insects and pests. The rings at the bottom of the fallen trees mark years of drought and heavy rain. Real writers, those trees are, publishing history every year—no writer’s block there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I stood under the canopy and wondered: How long this will be here? What will happen to it in my lifetime? And what can be done so that \u003cem>nothing\u003c/em> happens?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not a fear of nature that I have, it’s the fear of what will come of nature. And thus, what will come of \u003cem>us\u003c/em>. All of us. Stressed yet?\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "A New Kind of Mother’s Day",
"headTitle": "A New Kind of Mother’s Day | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/brittctann/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brittany Tanner\u003c/a> is a Bay Area vocalist, songwriter, and entrepreneur. As a member of the hip-hop ensemble SOL Development and the collective BE-IMAGINATIVE, both featured in the KQED Arts documentary \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.whenthewatersgetdeep.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">When the Waters Get Deep\u003c/a>\u003cem>, Tanner has helped work to disrupt the hopelessness from gun violence. She is also a founder of \u003ca href=\"https://thesongremedy.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Song Remedy\u003c/a>, a healing circle and space led by Black and brown women dedicated to transforming pain into medicine.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> remember once cleaning my mom’s whole house because I didn’t have money to buy her a gift. Now that I’m a mother myself, I see that one day a year is not enough to repay her for all the magic, dedication and love she’s gifted me, but a reminder to uplift and praise her every damn day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13896943\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-12-800x569.jpg\" alt=\" \" width=\"800\" height=\"569\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-12-800x569.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-12-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-12-768x547.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-12.jpg 1016w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was born to Sabrina McDaniel and Carnell Tanner August 8, 1985. They were both sixteen at the time. I had an amazing childhood. I grew up a country girl in Bakersfield, California. My great-grandpa always had some grapes fermenting in the bin outside, and my uncle Steve who lived next door kept chickens and homing pigeons, plus a team of the most vicious pit bulls. We’d occasionally catch crawdeggs in the canal, then sit in a circle popping the meat out the tails. There was a mulberry tree in the backyard, plenty of skinned knees, more than a couple black eyes, a whole lotta cussin’ and then church with grandma every Sunday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My brothers and I were bad as hell—it was just the three of us for a while, until my mom had my younger brother and sister. Then there were five of us. We’d ride our bikes all over the neighborhood, getting chased by dogs, playing knock-knock zoom-zoom at night and just getting into all the trouble we could think of. We grew up in the house that my grandma Rene used to live in, built by my great-grandpa. He and my great-grandma Miller lived a house and a huge field down the street from us. My aunt Sandra and uncle Andre lived to the right, and my uncle Steve and aunt Dametia lived on the left.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13896795\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-35-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-35-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-35-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-35-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-35-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-35-1536x1026.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-35.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When my mom was at school or work, the neighborhood watched and cared for us. My uncle Steve used to watch us through his blinds. I remember looking up and trying to see if he was looking at us so I could make my next move. You didn’t want to get caught by him—he gave the type of whoopin’s that make you hold your breath for a long time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day me and my brother Meechie were lighting little fires in the field, but putting them out quickly so they wouldn’t get too big. I had sandals on, so Meechie had to stomp the fires out for me. Well, he was lighting one and I was lighting one, and I guess he took too long getting to mine and the whole field caught on fire. When it got too big we had to run and get the adults. I was hysterical the whole time, not because of the fire but because of the ass whoopin’ I knew we were gonna get. Meechie took all the blame and I kept on with the hysterical crying, in shock and relief. I never thanked him enough for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Me, Meechie and Darius would fight all the time—like physically fight. We would even have boxing matches in the backyard with our cousins with no gloves. There was no scratching allowed. I used to think that rule was because I was a girl until Meech came in the house with a welt on his face and we all got in trouble. Another time, Meech and Darius were playing tug of war against me and they colluded to let go. I flew into the wall and got knocked out. When I awoke, they were both hovering over me, with Meech telling me to wake up and Darius starting to cry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896793\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896793\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-34-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Brittany Tanner and family pose for a photo.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-34-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-34-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-34-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-34-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-34-1536x1027.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-34.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brittany Tanner and family pose for a photo. \u003ccite>(Brittany Tanner)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>No matter how much we fought in the house, though, we had each other’s backs outside. In those days everybody knew everybody, and they definitely knew my folks. The Millers, McDaniels and the Woffords on my mom’s side and the Antonys/Tanners on my dad’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was one of those sunny days and my older cousin Kreshell took me to Sixth Street Park. We weren’t even there an hour and they started shooting. I mean shootin’ shootin’, like AK-47s or something. I was by the swings and my uncle Steve told me to run to the bathroom, when I tell you I was the tallest kid in there, crying out to Jesus! I was in there talking ’bout “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next morning I was at church repenting, crying my eyes out and telling the whole church how I felt a bullet go straight through my back but God saved me. I remember all the mothers and my grandma laying hands and praying for me. In each moment, there was always my community coming together in ritual to nurture my spirit and pass down wisdom. Sometimes that looked like a whoopin’, sometimes it looked like a hug, sometimes it was everybody kickin’ it at the family BBQ, and more times it was your mother telling all your business so the rest of the family can hold you accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13896798\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-33-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-33-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-33-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-33-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-33-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-33-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-33.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I was 18 I moved to Las Vegas trying to be grown. I was so lost. I felt my family didn’t understand me. I wanted to become a singer and was taking all the wrong paths and meeting all the wrong people to achieve that dream. I remember being surrounded by people but still feeling so alone. Just because I was finding my own way didn’t mean I had to abandon who I was and where I’d come from. I continued to fumble for years trying to connect with spirit and find my way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t until 2012 when I moved to D.C. and found my adopted community that I began to learn my full purpose. Not only did I began to see my calling as a vocalist but I realized I was so much more. I began to transition back to my roots. It started with me wanting to eat better and then I started being accountable for my bullshit. I was having difficult conversations that forced me to take a deep look into myself. I’m still looking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I moved to Oakland with my SOL Development family in the summer of 2015. The year before I moved to D.C., I wrote the song “Brother.” I had no idea that in 2021 I’d break down and cry every time I heard it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13896797\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-30-800x451.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"451\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-30-800x451.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-30-1020x575.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-30-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-30-768x433.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-30-1536x866.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-30.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On October 17, 2019, my brother Demetrius “Meech” Tanner was murdered in Baltimore. My cousin Sandee called me, told me to sit down, and told me he’d been shot. I was doing my sis Lauren’s (of SOL Development) hair. I couldn’t even finish. My partner Nell drove me to Bakersfield to be with my family, and when we got there I laid in the bed with my mom and we cried. We’d been filming the documentary \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13889347/sol-development-guides-the-lyrical-doc-when-the-waters-get-deep\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">When The Waters Get Deep\u003c/a> for a whole year. I felt so privileged to be in such healing spaces facilitated by BE Imaginative. Those interactions catapulted me into the healing work I began with \u003ca href=\"https://thesongremedy.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Song Remedy\u003c/a>. And through all the healing work and transitions, I’ve always had to lean into community. That is my sacred place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I became a mother August 30, 2020. My pregnancy was full of mixed emotions. I felt the joy from preparing to bring new life, but there was so much grief. I began going live on Instagram and sang whatever affirmations people would write in the comments. I began to once again feel community. Their affirmations were speaking directly to me, and the grieving that I was running from flowed right out of me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13896796\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-32-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-32-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-32-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-32-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-32-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-32-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-32.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a mother my number-one priority is to always pour into myself in that way, to stay committed to growth and healing, to ritual, to sacred community. I fall short of that often, and try my best to be transparent about that, so that my community can play its part and step in when needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Being a mother—a Black mother—is the hardest, most rewarding job, but it is impossible without aunties, uncles, cousins, grandmas, grandpas and loved ones.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/brittctann/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brittany Tanner\u003c/a> is a Bay Area vocalist, songwriter, and entrepreneur. As a member of the hip-hop ensemble SOL Development and the collective BE-IMAGINATIVE, both featured in the KQED Arts documentary \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.whenthewatersgetdeep.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">When the Waters Get Deep\u003c/a>\u003cem>, Tanner has helped work to disrupt the hopelessness from gun violence. She is also a founder of \u003ca href=\"https://thesongremedy.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Song Remedy\u003c/a>, a healing circle and space led by Black and brown women dedicated to transforming pain into medicine.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> remember once cleaning my mom’s whole house because I didn’t have money to buy her a gift. Now that I’m a mother myself, I see that one day a year is not enough to repay her for all the magic, dedication and love she’s gifted me, but a reminder to uplift and praise her every damn day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: center\">…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13896943\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-12-800x569.jpg\" alt=\" \" width=\"800\" height=\"569\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-12-800x569.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-12-160x114.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-12-768x547.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-12.jpg 1016w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was born to Sabrina McDaniel and Carnell Tanner August 8, 1985. They were both sixteen at the time. I had an amazing childhood. I grew up a country girl in Bakersfield, California. My great-grandpa always had some grapes fermenting in the bin outside, and my uncle Steve who lived next door kept chickens and homing pigeons, plus a team of the most vicious pit bulls. We’d occasionally catch crawdeggs in the canal, then sit in a circle popping the meat out the tails. There was a mulberry tree in the backyard, plenty of skinned knees, more than a couple black eyes, a whole lotta cussin’ and then church with grandma every Sunday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My brothers and I were bad as hell—it was just the three of us for a while, until my mom had my younger brother and sister. Then there were five of us. We’d ride our bikes all over the neighborhood, getting chased by dogs, playing knock-knock zoom-zoom at night and just getting into all the trouble we could think of. We grew up in the house that my grandma Rene used to live in, built by my great-grandpa. He and my great-grandma Miller lived a house and a huge field down the street from us. My aunt Sandra and uncle Andre lived to the right, and my uncle Steve and aunt Dametia lived on the left.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13896795\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-35-800x534.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-35-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-35-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-35-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-35-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-35-1536x1026.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-35.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When my mom was at school or work, the neighborhood watched and cared for us. My uncle Steve used to watch us through his blinds. I remember looking up and trying to see if he was looking at us so I could make my next move. You didn’t want to get caught by him—he gave the type of whoopin’s that make you hold your breath for a long time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One day me and my brother Meechie were lighting little fires in the field, but putting them out quickly so they wouldn’t get too big. I had sandals on, so Meechie had to stomp the fires out for me. Well, he was lighting one and I was lighting one, and I guess he took too long getting to mine and the whole field caught on fire. When it got too big we had to run and get the adults. I was hysterical the whole time, not because of the fire but because of the ass whoopin’ I knew we were gonna get. Meechie took all the blame and I kept on with the hysterical crying, in shock and relief. I never thanked him enough for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Me, Meechie and Darius would fight all the time—like physically fight. We would even have boxing matches in the backyard with our cousins with no gloves. There was no scratching allowed. I used to think that rule was because I was a girl until Meech came in the house with a welt on his face and we all got in trouble. Another time, Meech and Darius were playing tug of war against me and they colluded to let go. I flew into the wall and got knocked out. When I awoke, they were both hovering over me, with Meech telling me to wake up and Darius starting to cry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896793\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896793\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-34-800x535.jpg\" alt=\"Brittany Tanner and family pose for a photo.\" width=\"800\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-34-800x535.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-34-1020x682.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-34-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-34-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-34-1536x1027.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-34.jpg 1616w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brittany Tanner and family pose for a photo. \u003ccite>(Brittany Tanner)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>No matter how much we fought in the house, though, we had each other’s backs outside. In those days everybody knew everybody, and they definitely knew my folks. The Millers, McDaniels and the Woffords on my mom’s side and the Antonys/Tanners on my dad’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was one of those sunny days and my older cousin Kreshell took me to Sixth Street Park. We weren’t even there an hour and they started shooting. I mean shootin’ shootin’, like AK-47s or something. I was by the swings and my uncle Steve told me to run to the bathroom, when I tell you I was the tallest kid in there, crying out to Jesus! I was in there talking ’bout “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next morning I was at church repenting, crying my eyes out and telling the whole church how I felt a bullet go straight through my back but God saved me. I remember all the mothers and my grandma laying hands and praying for me. In each moment, there was always my community coming together in ritual to nurture my spirit and pass down wisdom. Sometimes that looked like a whoopin’, sometimes it looked like a hug, sometimes it was everybody kickin’ it at the family BBQ, and more times it was your mother telling all your business so the rest of the family can hold you accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13896798\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-33-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-33-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-33-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-33-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-33-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-33-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-33.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I was 18 I moved to Las Vegas trying to be grown. I was so lost. I felt my family didn’t understand me. I wanted to become a singer and was taking all the wrong paths and meeting all the wrong people to achieve that dream. I remember being surrounded by people but still feeling so alone. Just because I was finding my own way didn’t mean I had to abandon who I was and where I’d come from. I continued to fumble for years trying to connect with spirit and find my way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t until 2012 when I moved to D.C. and found my adopted community that I began to learn my full purpose. Not only did I began to see my calling as a vocalist but I realized I was so much more. I began to transition back to my roots. It started with me wanting to eat better and then I started being accountable for my bullshit. I was having difficult conversations that forced me to take a deep look into myself. I’m still looking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I moved to Oakland with my SOL Development family in the summer of 2015. The year before I moved to D.C., I wrote the song “Brother.” I had no idea that in 2021 I’d break down and cry every time I heard it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13896797\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-30-800x451.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"451\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-30-800x451.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-30-1020x575.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-30-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-30-768x433.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-30-1536x866.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-30.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On October 17, 2019, my brother Demetrius “Meech” Tanner was murdered in Baltimore. My cousin Sandee called me, told me to sit down, and told me he’d been shot. I was doing my sis Lauren’s (of SOL Development) hair. I couldn’t even finish. My partner Nell drove me to Bakersfield to be with my family, and when we got there I laid in the bed with my mom and we cried. We’d been filming the documentary \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13889347/sol-development-guides-the-lyrical-doc-when-the-waters-get-deep\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">When The Waters Get Deep\u003c/a> for a whole year. I felt so privileged to be in such healing spaces facilitated by BE Imaginative. Those interactions catapulted me into the healing work I began with \u003ca href=\"https://thesongremedy.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Song Remedy\u003c/a>. And through all the healing work and transitions, I’ve always had to lean into community. That is my sacred place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I became a mother August 30, 2020. My pregnancy was full of mixed emotions. I felt the joy from preparing to bring new life, but there was so much grief. I began going live on Instagram and sang whatever affirmations people would write in the comments. I began to once again feel community. Their affirmations were speaking directly to me, and the grieving that I was running from flowed right out of me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-13896796\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-32-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-32-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-32-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-32-160x213.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-32-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-32-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/05/Image-from-iOS-32.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a mother my number-one priority is to always pour into myself in that way, to stay committed to growth and healing, to ritual, to sacred community. I fall short of that often, and try my best to be transparent about that, so that my community can play its part and step in when needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Being a mother—a Black mother—is the hardest, most rewarding job, but it is impossible without aunties, uncles, cousins, grandmas, grandpas and loved ones.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Richmond’s Hilltop Mall Offered More Than Retail Therapy—It’s Where We Grew Up",
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"content": "\u003cp>After 45 years of service, Richmond’s Hilltop Mall has shuttered for good. No one is surprised. Though many of the original architectural features from its glory days remain–the carpeted spiral ramp in the center rotunda; the abstract, decidedly-’70s, gold sculpture \u003ci>Solar Cantata\u003c/i> (so enormous it will take some David Copperfield-level maneuvering to remove); the gurgling fountain full of pennies whose signature dank aquarium smell haunts our nostrils to this day—everything else has changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once a gleaming testament to everything shiny and cool, most of the name-brand stores quietly pulled up stakes and moved away years ago. In their place were generic discount stores with names akin to “Stuff & Things” and “Stuff & Things II.” It felt like there were at least 30 different Sheikh shoe shops. Most everything else was gone. According to the \u003ca href=\"https://richmondstandard.com/community/2020/08/24/could-hilltop-mall-become-the-east-bay-science-and-technology-center/\">\u003ci>Richmond Standard\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, as of last summer, only about 16% of the mall’s tenants were retail shops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hilltop’s demise is not \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNz4Un92pGNxQ9vNgmnCx7dwchPJGJ3IQ\">unique\u003c/a>. Experts predict that 25% of America’s roughly 1,000 remaining malls will close in the next three to five years. The coronavirus has only hastened a process that was already well underway. What will come of this swath of empty malls dotting the country isn’t easy to determine. Some are turned into distribution hubs or shifted towards other industrial purposes. In a few best-case scenarios the space has been transformed into housing, medical centers, schools or churches. Many stand empty for years, slowly eroding into disrepair or falling victim to vandalism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896492\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltop_teenparadise_1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1200\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13896492\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltop_teenparadise_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltop_teenparadise_1200-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltop_teenparadise_1200-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltop_teenparadise_1200-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltop_teenparadise_1200-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fittingly, a shop called Teen Paradise sits empty in the Hilltop Mall in 2017. \u003ccite>(Jon Konrath)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Apart from a half-dozen military recruiting centers, a couple neighborhood businesses moved into Hilltop in recent years, including a barber shop and a martial arts studio, but it wasn’t enough to revive the community atmosphere that once thrived here. Walking through Hilltop any time over the past 10 years, I swear, you could hear wolves howling in the distance. It was desolate, cloaked in an aura of despair. D-E-A-D.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A homegrown meme circulated a few Christmases ago featuring a white Santa Claus at Hilltop Mall. He was wearing a red snapback baseball cap, an untucked white T-shirt, red pants and sneakers. He sat with a young boy at his knee in one of the small circular cement seating corrals, and though a few tufts of cotton balls at his feet did their best to impersonate a winter wonderland, not even the most stubbornly imaginative kid could suspend his disbelief. This Santa didn’t bother with a fur-trimmed red suit or candy canes. He wasn’t flanked by elven helpers. He was a Santa who had given up. The new mall mascot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896493\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/HilltopMallSantaMeme.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"492\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13896493\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/HilltopMallSantaMeme.jpg 500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/HilltopMallSantaMeme-160x157.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Hilltop Mall Santa meme that circulated in 2018.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For a West Contra Costa County kid growing up in the late ’70s to early ’90s, Hilltop Mall was the spot. There were two movie theaters. There was an ice cream parlor called Scoopy’s with porthole windows that fogged up from the cold air blowing in from the ice skating rink next door. You could get your ears pierced by a disgruntled gay high school boy at Bedazzled and then go upstairs to Shirtique to pick up an iron-on shirt made right in front of you on a press resembling an oversized George Foreman grill. You could check out a row of puppies at the pet store (we didn’t know better), choke on some candle scents at Hallmark, or grab a brick of pizza at Lord Byron’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hilltop Mall was a place of discovery and first times. Kids crawled around on the polished tile floors when their parents were too tired to stop them. Others ran in circles in the carpeted seating area in a Cinnabon-fueled frenzy. There were fashion shows, \u003cem>Sesame Street Live!\u003c/em> performances, and celebrity meet-and-greets featuring people like Robert “Epstein” Hegyes (from ’70s sitcom \u003ci>Welcome Back, Kotter\u003c/i>) and The Raiderettes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I saw my very first movie at the Hilltop mall when I was so small my mom had to keep her purse on the seat just to keep it from closing up on me. When I was older, it was the first place I was allowed to take the bus by myself, igniting a lifelong desire for autonomy and escape. My friends and I would look for dudes, test out new looks, try to sneak into the back hallways and cause problems. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a place to shop, of course, but more importantly, a community hub of limitless spontaneous potential. Like a game of Richmond roulette, you might get a phone number from a hottie who didn’t go to your school or you might get jumped at the bus stop outside McDonald’s. You might find a pair of stirrup pants that made your ass look like God or you might get spit on by some devious kid from the upper floor who disappeared before you could make it up the escalator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896399\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltopmall_ramp.jpg\" alt=\"Spiral ramp in an empty shopping mall\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1536\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13896399\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltopmall_ramp.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltopmall_ramp-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltopmall_ramp-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltopmall_ramp-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltopmall_ramp-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltopmall_ramp-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltopmall_ramp-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hilltop Mall’s center rotunda (and sculpture), photographed in 2017. \u003ccite>(Jon Konrath)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Of course online shopping killed the malls. We all know that. But it was also capitalism’s lack of imagination or inclination to do better. People still have the same human desires that sent us to the mall in the first place. A giant pretzel washed down with Orange Julius is awesome, but it was just a byproduct of the real reason you went to the mall: to hang out with your bestie. To be around people and immerse yourself in the circus of life. Not many large real estate corporations are motivated to reimagine the mall as the village that serves today’s community needs. So this is what we’re left with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the pandemic derailed plans for a mixed-use development and then a science and technology center, San Francisco-based industrial property owner Prologis bought Hilltop Mall for $117 million this past week. The company released a press statement that says it intends to “pursue a mixed-use development that includes residential, retail, and modern logistics facilities, which will spur further reinvestment, job growth, and economic opportunity.” But honestly, can you imagine anything human-centric coming from a company with a name like Prologis?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Popular opinion predicts it will likely be a distribution center for a behemoth online retailer. No one will be watching the new \u003ci>Star Wars\u003c/i> movie or sampling candy or learning to walk or picking out their most perfect prom dress in that building. I hope its future tenants are forever haunted by the referee-shirted ghost of Foot Locker and the faint, lingering smell of musty fountain water.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After 45 years of service, Richmond’s Hilltop Mall has shuttered for good. No one is surprised. Though many of the original architectural features from its glory days remain–the carpeted spiral ramp in the center rotunda; the abstract, decidedly-’70s, gold sculpture \u003ci>Solar Cantata\u003c/i> (so enormous it will take some David Copperfield-level maneuvering to remove); the gurgling fountain full of pennies whose signature dank aquarium smell haunts our nostrils to this day—everything else has changed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once a gleaming testament to everything shiny and cool, most of the name-brand stores quietly pulled up stakes and moved away years ago. In their place were generic discount stores with names akin to “Stuff & Things” and “Stuff & Things II.” It felt like there were at least 30 different Sheikh shoe shops. Most everything else was gone. According to the \u003ca href=\"https://richmondstandard.com/community/2020/08/24/could-hilltop-mall-become-the-east-bay-science-and-technology-center/\">\u003ci>Richmond Standard\u003c/i>\u003c/a>, as of last summer, only about 16% of the mall’s tenants were retail shops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hilltop’s demise is not \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNz4Un92pGNxQ9vNgmnCx7dwchPJGJ3IQ\">unique\u003c/a>. Experts predict that 25% of America’s roughly 1,000 remaining malls will close in the next three to five years. The coronavirus has only hastened a process that was already well underway. What will come of this swath of empty malls dotting the country isn’t easy to determine. Some are turned into distribution hubs or shifted towards other industrial purposes. In a few best-case scenarios the space has been transformed into housing, medical centers, schools or churches. Many stand empty for years, slowly eroding into disrepair or falling victim to vandalism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896492\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltop_teenparadise_1200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1200\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13896492\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltop_teenparadise_1200.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltop_teenparadise_1200-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltop_teenparadise_1200-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltop_teenparadise_1200-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltop_teenparadise_1200-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fittingly, a shop called Teen Paradise sits empty in the Hilltop Mall in 2017. \u003ccite>(Jon Konrath)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Apart from a half-dozen military recruiting centers, a couple neighborhood businesses moved into Hilltop in recent years, including a barber shop and a martial arts studio, but it wasn’t enough to revive the community atmosphere that once thrived here. Walking through Hilltop any time over the past 10 years, I swear, you could hear wolves howling in the distance. It was desolate, cloaked in an aura of despair. D-E-A-D.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A homegrown meme circulated a few Christmases ago featuring a white Santa Claus at Hilltop Mall. He was wearing a red snapback baseball cap, an untucked white T-shirt, red pants and sneakers. He sat with a young boy at his knee in one of the small circular cement seating corrals, and though a few tufts of cotton balls at his feet did their best to impersonate a winter wonderland, not even the most stubbornly imaginative kid could suspend his disbelief. This Santa didn’t bother with a fur-trimmed red suit or candy canes. He wasn’t flanked by elven helpers. He was a Santa who had given up. The new mall mascot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896493\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/HilltopMallSantaMeme.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"492\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13896493\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/HilltopMallSantaMeme.jpg 500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/HilltopMallSantaMeme-160x157.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Hilltop Mall Santa meme that circulated in 2018.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For a West Contra Costa County kid growing up in the late ’70s to early ’90s, Hilltop Mall was the spot. There were two movie theaters. There was an ice cream parlor called Scoopy’s with porthole windows that fogged up from the cold air blowing in from the ice skating rink next door. You could get your ears pierced by a disgruntled gay high school boy at Bedazzled and then go upstairs to Shirtique to pick up an iron-on shirt made right in front of you on a press resembling an oversized George Foreman grill. You could check out a row of puppies at the pet store (we didn’t know better), choke on some candle scents at Hallmark, or grab a brick of pizza at Lord Byron’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hilltop Mall was a place of discovery and first times. Kids crawled around on the polished tile floors when their parents were too tired to stop them. Others ran in circles in the carpeted seating area in a Cinnabon-fueled frenzy. There were fashion shows, \u003cem>Sesame Street Live!\u003c/em> performances, and celebrity meet-and-greets featuring people like Robert “Epstein” Hegyes (from ’70s sitcom \u003ci>Welcome Back, Kotter\u003c/i>) and The Raiderettes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I saw my very first movie at the Hilltop mall when I was so small my mom had to keep her purse on the seat just to keep it from closing up on me. When I was older, it was the first place I was allowed to take the bus by myself, igniting a lifelong desire for autonomy and escape. My friends and I would look for dudes, test out new looks, try to sneak into the back hallways and cause problems. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a place to shop, of course, but more importantly, a community hub of limitless spontaneous potential. Like a game of Richmond roulette, you might get a phone number from a hottie who didn’t go to your school or you might get jumped at the bus stop outside McDonald’s. You might find a pair of stirrup pants that made your ass look like God or you might get spit on by some devious kid from the upper floor who disappeared before you could make it up the escalator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896399\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2048px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltopmall_ramp.jpg\" alt=\"Spiral ramp in an empty shopping mall\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1536\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13896399\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltopmall_ramp.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltopmall_ramp-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltopmall_ramp-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltopmall_ramp-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltopmall_ramp-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltopmall_ramp-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/hilltopmall_ramp-1920x1440.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hilltop Mall’s center rotunda (and sculpture), photographed in 2017. \u003ccite>(Jon Konrath)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Of course online shopping killed the malls. We all know that. But it was also capitalism’s lack of imagination or inclination to do better. People still have the same human desires that sent us to the mall in the first place. A giant pretzel washed down with Orange Julius is awesome, but it was just a byproduct of the real reason you went to the mall: to hang out with your bestie. To be around people and immerse yourself in the circus of life. Not many large real estate corporations are motivated to reimagine the mall as the village that serves today’s community needs. So this is what we’re left with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the pandemic derailed plans for a mixed-use development and then a science and technology center, San Francisco-based industrial property owner Prologis bought Hilltop Mall for $117 million this past week. The company released a press statement that says it intends to “pursue a mixed-use development that includes residential, retail, and modern logistics facilities, which will spur further reinvestment, job growth, and economic opportunity.” But honestly, can you imagine anything human-centric coming from a company with a name like Prologis?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Popular opinion predicts it will likely be a distribution center for a behemoth online retailer. No one will be watching the new \u003ci>Star Wars\u003c/i> movie or sampling candy or learning to walk or picking out their most perfect prom dress in that building. I hope its future tenants are forever haunted by the referee-shirted ghost of Foot Locker and the faint, lingering smell of musty fountain water.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "How fnnch’s Honey Bears Became the Most Despised Street Art in San Francisco",
"headTitle": "How fnnch’s Honey Bears Became the Most Despised Street Art in San Francisco | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>In the summer of 2018, I put together \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/102978/a-guide-to-san-francisco-murals-and-the-artists-who-make-them\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a guide to six prolific muralists\u003c/a> in San Francisco, including maps of where to find their work. The idea was to create city walks that doubled as art treasure hunts, and to encourage people to learn more about some of our most visible local artists. The list included \u003ca href=\"https://sillypinkbunnies.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeremy Fish\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.sirronnorris.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sirron Norris\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fewandfarwomen.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Few and Far Women\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://samflores.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sam Flores\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://theapexer.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">APEXER\u003c/a> and—try not to hate me—\u003ca href=\"https://fnnch.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fnnch\u003c/a>, the artist behind all those honey bears plastered everywhere in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, fnnch was as well known for his poppies, dogs and bright lips as he was for his honey bears. And at the time, I described his artistic contributions to the city as the “most Instagram-able” on the list, adding that each of his public pieces made the city “a more cheerful place to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost three years later, I cannot, in good conscience, say the same thing. In the past 12 months, San Francisco has become so oversaturated with fnnch’s honey bears that what was once an occasional sugar rush now feels like a nausea-inducing force-feeding. And I’m not alone: the backlash, brewing since last summer, finally reached its zenith this month. There’s a new (private) Instagram account, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fuckfnnch/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@fuckfnnch\u003c/a>, that celebrates “pics or videos of dissed or ripped bears.” There’s a Change.org petition titled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.change.org/p/sf-lgbt-center-remove-fnnch-mural-from-sf-lgbt-center?source_location=petitions_browse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Remove fnnch mural from SF LGBT Center\u003c/a>.” And, notably, there are the local artists who’ve been confronting fnnch on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/COD3Gg1BpH7/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">walls\u003c/a>, in person and online.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CON1e9Hhwap/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the most visible and vocal is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rickyratcomix/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ricky Rat\u003c/a>, whose stories on Instagram often feature montages of honey bear destruction, parodies and badmouthing. “I don’t care where you’re from, but if you’re not doing something directly positive that reflects the real community, then I won’t support it,” \u003ca href=\"https://thebolditalic.com/san-franciscos-honey-bears-harmlessly-cute-or-symbols-of-gentrification-a1cdf925b1f1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ricky told the \u003cem>Bold Italic\u003c/em>\u003c/a> last August. “[fnnch] didn’t invent gentrification, but he most publicly represents what it’s about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896331\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896331\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-800x495.jpg\" alt=\"A collection of images featured on Ricky Rat's Instagram stories, on Monday April 26, 2021.\" width=\"800\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-800x495.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-1020x631.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-768x475.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-1536x951.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-2048x1267.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-1920x1188.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A collection of images featured on Ricky Rat’s Instagram stories, on Monday April 26, 2021. \u003ccite>(Instagram/ @rickyratcomix)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last week, local artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/doggtowndro/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DoggTown Dro\u003c/a> uploaded a video of himself confronting fnnch and two of his assistants. The three were apparently cleaning “FUCK FNNCH” graffiti off the trio of honey bears on the side of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfcenter.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LGBT Center\u003c/a> when Dro arrived. “These bears have become synonymous with gentrification in San Francisco,” he told fnnch, “and the displacement of the artists that come from here.” At one point during the exchange, fnnch refers to himself as an “immigrant” from Missouri, a moment \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=fnnch%20immigrant&src=typed_query\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">seized upon by his critics\u003c/a> over the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CN-qwbvBoIR/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back when I wrote that mural guide, in 2018, fnnch was not a favorite within the art community—but he wasn’t this despised, either. He was seen as too generic, too clean-cut, too… \u003cem>safe\u003c/em>. But he held a mainstream appeal that few artists who paint on city walls hold. He was, to put it bluntly, a street artist for people who don’t actually like street art. If regular street artists were the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmoma.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SFMOMA\u003c/a>, fnnch was the \u003ca href=\"https://tickets.museumoficecream.com/event/museum-of-ice-cream-san-fran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Museum of Ice Cream\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>fnnch’s latest problems, however, are rooted in his transition from public selfie backgrounds into the realm of community issues, where he distills serious topics down into his honey bear image. And he’s been doing that, in earnest, since the pandemic began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13896515']It started harmlessly enough. In April 2020, fnnch began, according to one of his newsletters, “wheat-pasting COVID Bears on boarded up storefronts across San Francisco.” At the time, he said he wanted to “convert depressing storefronts into canvases for art, and encourage healthy behavior.” Then, in May, he came up with the #HoneyBearHunt. It was a more urban take on what was happening in the suburbs during the early days of shelter in place: instead of putting actual teddy bears in windows for neighborhood children, people could display fnnch’s honey bear, and kids could follow his virtual map to find them. He sold 3,500 bear window displays in four days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the year since, fnnch—a straight, white, former tech worker—has been bombarding San Francisco with those bears. After the initial mask and soap bears for the #HoneyBearHunt, there was a woefully \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/gygx2e/fnnch_bear_blackface/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ill-advised\u003c/a>—then \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CBY7kg5JUax/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">re-imagined\u003c/a>—Black Lives Matter-inspired bear. There was a bear to encourage voting. There was a Ruth Bader Ginsburg bear, a firefighter bear, a teacher bear, a coffee house bear (which fnnch said symbolized the “many everyday heroes of the pandemic”), a San Francisco Ballet bear, a movie bear and, most recently, a Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence bear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896343\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896343\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"This critique of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence honey bear recently appeared on Ricky Rat's Instagram account.\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This critique of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence honey bear recently appeared on Ricky Rat’s Instagram account. \u003ccite>(Instagram/ @rickyratcomix)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of the reasons people kept buying the bears was because most of them, in one way or another, support a good cause. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will receive 50% of funds from fnnch’s painting and print sales in their likeness. Mask bear and soap bear raised over $100,000 for \u003ca href=\"https://www.safetynetfund.io/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Safety Net Fund\u003c/a>. Of the firefighter bear sales, 50% benefited the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cafirefoundation.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CAL FIRE Foundation\u003c/a>. The SF Ballet got “50% of [related] art sales and 25% of other sales … to support their extensive COVID testing of dancers and staff.” Ten percent of the profits from the movie bear print went to \u003ca href=\"https://www.roxie.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Roxie\u003c/a>. A line of T-shirts donated 25% of sales to \u003ca href=\"https://www.stanthonysf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">St. Anthony’s\u003c/a>, a nonprofit community organization. As fnnch himself noted in one of his regular newsletters, he “went from raising or donating $12,000 in 2019 to $293,000 in 2020.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postid='arts_13890127']After the uproar that greeted his initial attempt at a BLM-inspired bear, an image that people likened to blackface, fnnch donated 50% of proceeds from his subsequent “Ally Bear” to the \u003ca href=\"https://eji.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Equal Justice Initiative\u003c/a>, and the other 50% to \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/newbills-barber-shop-and-salon-san-francisco-6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Newbills Barber Shop and Salon\u003c/a> on Divisadero. It was a rare occasion when the artist himself did not also profit from a design.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What is less acknowledged when it comes to fnnch, though, is the primary reason people in the city are so sick of him. He has figured out a way to dominate public space, and without any of the risks or consequences that art that lives in public usually faces. (Such as weather damage, tagging, etc.) Honey bears pasted onto shuttered storefronts will have a shelf life of weeks. Honey bears stuck up safely inside people’s windows, protected by the rules of private property, can live indefinitely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which is how you end up with this:\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896344\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896344\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-800x536.png\" alt=\"fnnch's own map of honey bear saturation in San Francisco demonstrates how few spaces remain bear-free.\" width=\"800\" height=\"536\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-800x536.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-1020x684.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-768x515.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-1536x1029.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM.png 1898w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">fnnch’s own map of honey bear saturation in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Instagram/ @fnnch)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What’s worse, even at his current level of over-saturation, fnnch’s commitment to blanketing the city with a single image is only getting more aggressive. He specified in his January newsletter that people buying prints for his second honey bear hunt must display the bears in their windows for “at least 3 months.” He added, “It would be swell if you kept it up for the duration of the pandemic, but … after 3 months I will reach out with a survey to see if you’d like to keep your bear up longer.” Children haven’t been this invested in teddy bear hunts in months. So why keep up the proliferation? What’s in it for fnnch?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>fnnch’s honey bear now occupies every type of space in San Francisco: the windows of private homes, public walls, institutional facades, and, as of April, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CNpzXw6JnxG/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">inside bus shelters\u003c/a> and on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CN-iAjbpm6_/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sides of Muni buses\u003c/a>. Through sheer force of their omnipresence, fnnch’s honey bears are coming to define the city as a place that embraces a kind of bland homogeneity, even in its street art. This is the crux of the disconnect between fnnch and San Francisco writ large: How can the repetition of one image uplift a community that has long prided itself on its heterogeneity? That he continues his honey bear output isn’t just ill-advised, it speaks to how much he still doesn’t understand his adopted home of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In the summer of 2018, I put together \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/pop/102978/a-guide-to-san-francisco-murals-and-the-artists-who-make-them\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a guide to six prolific muralists\u003c/a> in San Francisco, including maps of where to find their work. The idea was to create city walks that doubled as art treasure hunts, and to encourage people to learn more about some of our most visible local artists. The list included \u003ca href=\"https://sillypinkbunnies.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeremy Fish\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.sirronnorris.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sirron Norris\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fewandfarwomen.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Few and Far Women\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://samflores.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sam Flores\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://theapexer.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">APEXER\u003c/a> and—try not to hate me—\u003ca href=\"https://fnnch.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fnnch\u003c/a>, the artist behind all those honey bears plastered everywhere in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, fnnch was as well known for his poppies, dogs and bright lips as he was for his honey bears. And at the time, I described his artistic contributions to the city as the “most Instagram-able” on the list, adding that each of his public pieces made the city “a more cheerful place to be.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost three years later, I cannot, in good conscience, say the same thing. In the past 12 months, San Francisco has become so oversaturated with fnnch’s honey bears that what was once an occasional sugar rush now feels like a nausea-inducing force-feeding. And I’m not alone: the backlash, brewing since last summer, finally reached its zenith this month. There’s a new (private) Instagram account, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/fuckfnnch/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@fuckfnnch\u003c/a>, that celebrates “pics or videos of dissed or ripped bears.” There’s a Change.org petition titled “\u003ca href=\"https://www.change.org/p/sf-lgbt-center-remove-fnnch-mural-from-sf-lgbt-center?source_location=petitions_browse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Remove fnnch mural from SF LGBT Center\u003c/a>.” And, notably, there are the local artists who’ve been confronting fnnch on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/COD3Gg1BpH7/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">walls\u003c/a>, in person and online.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>One of the most visible and vocal is \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rickyratcomix/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ricky Rat\u003c/a>, whose stories on Instagram often feature montages of honey bear destruction, parodies and badmouthing. “I don’t care where you’re from, but if you’re not doing something directly positive that reflects the real community, then I won’t support it,” \u003ca href=\"https://thebolditalic.com/san-franciscos-honey-bears-harmlessly-cute-or-symbols-of-gentrification-a1cdf925b1f1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ricky told the \u003cem>Bold Italic\u003c/em>\u003c/a> last August. “[fnnch] didn’t invent gentrification, but he most publicly represents what it’s about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896331\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896331\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-800x495.jpg\" alt=\"A collection of images featured on Ricky Rat's Instagram stories, on Monday April 26, 2021.\" width=\"800\" height=\"495\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-800x495.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-1020x631.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-768x475.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-1536x951.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-2048x1267.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-rat-bear-1920x1188.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A collection of images featured on Ricky Rat’s Instagram stories, on Monday April 26, 2021. \u003ccite>(Instagram/ @rickyratcomix)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Last week, local artist \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/doggtowndro/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DoggTown Dro\u003c/a> uploaded a video of himself confronting fnnch and two of his assistants. The three were apparently cleaning “FUCK FNNCH” graffiti off the trio of honey bears on the side of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfcenter.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LGBT Center\u003c/a> when Dro arrived. “These bears have become synonymous with gentrification in San Francisco,” he told fnnch, “and the displacement of the artists that come from here.” At one point during the exchange, fnnch refers to himself as an “immigrant” from Missouri, a moment \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/search?q=fnnch%20immigrant&src=typed_query\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">seized upon by his critics\u003c/a> over the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Back when I wrote that mural guide, in 2018, fnnch was not a favorite within the art community—but he wasn’t this despised, either. He was seen as too generic, too clean-cut, too… \u003cem>safe\u003c/em>. But he held a mainstream appeal that few artists who paint on city walls hold. He was, to put it bluntly, a street artist for people who don’t actually like street art. If regular street artists were the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfmoma.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SFMOMA\u003c/a>, fnnch was the \u003ca href=\"https://tickets.museumoficecream.com/event/museum-of-ice-cream-san-fran\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Museum of Ice Cream\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>fnnch’s latest problems, however, are rooted in his transition from public selfie backgrounds into the realm of community issues, where he distills serious topics down into his honey bear image. And he’s been doing that, in earnest, since the pandemic began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>It started harmlessly enough. In April 2020, fnnch began, according to one of his newsletters, “wheat-pasting COVID Bears on boarded up storefronts across San Francisco.” At the time, he said he wanted to “convert depressing storefronts into canvases for art, and encourage healthy behavior.” Then, in May, he came up with the #HoneyBearHunt. It was a more urban take on what was happening in the suburbs during the early days of shelter in place: instead of putting actual teddy bears in windows for neighborhood children, people could display fnnch’s honey bear, and kids could follow his virtual map to find them. He sold 3,500 bear window displays in four days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the year since, fnnch—a straight, white, former tech worker—has been bombarding San Francisco with those bears. After the initial mask and soap bears for the #HoneyBearHunt, there was a woefully \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/gygx2e/fnnch_bear_blackface/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ill-advised\u003c/a>—then \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CBY7kg5JUax/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">re-imagined\u003c/a>—Black Lives Matter-inspired bear. There was a bear to encourage voting. There was a Ruth Bader Ginsburg bear, a firefighter bear, a teacher bear, a coffee house bear (which fnnch said symbolized the “many everyday heroes of the pandemic”), a San Francisco Ballet bear, a movie bear and, most recently, a Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence bear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896343\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896343\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-800x800.jpg\" alt=\"This critique of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence honey bear recently appeared on Ricky Rat's Instagram account.\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/ricky-comix-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This critique of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence honey bear recently appeared on Ricky Rat’s Instagram account. \u003ccite>(Instagram/ @rickyratcomix)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of the reasons people kept buying the bears was because most of them, in one way or another, support a good cause. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will receive 50% of funds from fnnch’s painting and print sales in their likeness. Mask bear and soap bear raised over $100,000 for \u003ca href=\"https://www.safetynetfund.io/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Safety Net Fund\u003c/a>. Of the firefighter bear sales, 50% benefited the \u003ca href=\"https://www.cafirefoundation.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CAL FIRE Foundation\u003c/a>. The SF Ballet got “50% of [related] art sales and 25% of other sales … to support their extensive COVID testing of dancers and staff.” Ten percent of the profits from the movie bear print went to \u003ca href=\"https://www.roxie.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the Roxie\u003c/a>. A line of T-shirts donated 25% of sales to \u003ca href=\"https://www.stanthonysf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">St. Anthony’s\u003c/a>, a nonprofit community organization. As fnnch himself noted in one of his regular newsletters, he “went from raising or donating $12,000 in 2019 to $293,000 in 2020.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>After the uproar that greeted his initial attempt at a BLM-inspired bear, an image that people likened to blackface, fnnch donated 50% of proceeds from his subsequent “Ally Bear” to the \u003ca href=\"https://eji.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Equal Justice Initiative\u003c/a>, and the other 50% to \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/newbills-barber-shop-and-salon-san-francisco-6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Newbills Barber Shop and Salon\u003c/a> on Divisadero. It was a rare occasion when the artist himself did not also profit from a design.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What is less acknowledged when it comes to fnnch, though, is the primary reason people in the city are so sick of him. He has figured out a way to dominate public space, and without any of the risks or consequences that art that lives in public usually faces. (Such as weather damage, tagging, etc.) Honey bears pasted onto shuttered storefronts will have a shelf life of weeks. Honey bears stuck up safely inside people’s windows, protected by the rules of private property, can live indefinitely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which is how you end up with this:\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896344\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896344\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-800x536.png\" alt=\"fnnch's own map of honey bear saturation in San Francisco demonstrates how few spaces remain bear-free.\" width=\"800\" height=\"536\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-800x536.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-1020x684.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-160x107.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-768x515.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM-1536x1029.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-26-at-5.48.51-PM.png 1898w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">fnnch’s own map of honey bear saturation in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Instagram/ @fnnch)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What’s worse, even at his current level of over-saturation, fnnch’s commitment to blanketing the city with a single image is only getting more aggressive. He specified in his January newsletter that people buying prints for his second honey bear hunt must display the bears in their windows for “at least 3 months.” He added, “It would be swell if you kept it up for the duration of the pandemic, but … after 3 months I will reach out with a survey to see if you’d like to keep your bear up longer.” Children haven’t been this invested in teddy bear hunts in months. So why keep up the proliferation? What’s in it for fnnch?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>fnnch’s honey bear now occupies every type of space in San Francisco: the windows of private homes, public walls, institutional facades, and, as of April, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CNpzXw6JnxG/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">inside bus shelters\u003c/a> and on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CN-iAjbpm6_/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sides of Muni buses\u003c/a>. Through sheer force of their omnipresence, fnnch’s honey bears are coming to define the city as a place that embraces a kind of bland homogeneity, even in its street art. This is the crux of the disconnect between fnnch and San Francisco writ large: How can the repetition of one image uplift a community that has long prided itself on its heterogeneity? That he continues his honey bear output isn’t just ill-advised, it speaks to how much he still doesn’t understand his adopted home of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Public Safety for Asian Americans Starts with Nurturing Our Communities",
"headTitle": "Public Safety for Asian Americans Starts with Nurturing Our Communities | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[dropcap]A[/dropcap]n “89-year-old grandma, who was brutally attacked on San Francisco playground, dies 1 year later,” read the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/yik-oi-huang-sf-grandma-dies-san-francisco-visitacion-valley/5815366/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ABC7 News headline\u003c/span>\u003c/a> from January 2020\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. At the time, COVID-19 had only recently arrived in the United States, and I’d stumbled upon the article while trying to learn more about a video I’d seen circulating of an elderly Asian man \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/san-francisco-police-elderly-man-attacked-bayview-neighborhood-visitacion-valley/5964588/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">who was harassed and assaulted\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> while collecting cans in San Francisco. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since the pandemic began, many of us (\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13880441/asian-american-protest-art-pandemic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">myself included\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">) have held former President Trump’s xenophobic rhetoric responsible for the surge in anti-Asian sentiment and violence across the country. His comments calling the novel coronavirus a “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/us/politics/china-virus.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chinese virus\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” or “Kung Flu\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” for which the U.S. should “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3104611/donald-trump-new-video-vows-make-china-pay-coronavirus-pandemic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[make] China pay\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” have undoubtedly poured fuel on the flame. But reading about the 2019 attack on a grandmother reminded me of a haunting, unshakeable truth: This anti-Asian violence is nothing new.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since the first wave of Chinese laborers arrived in the U.S. in the 1850s, Asians in America have occupied the role of “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3092701/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">perpetual foreigners\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” and been subjected to violence and animosity for our existence as “outsiders” in this country. Despite some recent attention, in general, that history isn’t commonly taught. Few people know, for instance, that the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/chinese-massacre-1871\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chinese Massacre of 1871\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in Los Angeles was the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://academic.oup.com/jah/article-abstract/100/1/217/747629?redirectedFrom=fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">largest mass lynching\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in U.S. history, or that most of San Francisco’s Chinatown was burned down during the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/1877-san-francisco-anti-chinese-race-riots-11302710.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Riots of 1877\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—when mobs of white laborers stormed the neighborhood, burning buildings and killing Chinese workers in anger that they were taking over the workforce. [aside postid='arts_13894352']\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It doesn’t matter how many years have passed, or how well white elites say Asians have integrated into America’s cultural fabric. T\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">he sentiment that we do not belong in this country always returns in times of \u003ca href=\"https://news.berkeley.edu/2021/03/17/berkeley-expert-in-times-of-crisis-anti-asian-violence-is-an-american-tradition/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">crisis or socioeconomic hardship\u003c/a>. And in the Bay Area, a space heavily impacted by meteoric gentrification and the constant threat of displacement, that state of crisis can feel constant for many communities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[dropcap]T[/dropcap]hat 89-year-old grandmother I read about was Yik Oi Huang. In January 2019, she \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-loving-memories-of-grandma-huang\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">was brutally attacked\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> while doing her daily morning exercise at a park in Visitacion Valley in an attempt to rob her house across the street. She was kept on life support until early 2020, when she ultimately passed away from her injuries. That same year, three elderly men in San Francisco Chinatown were also \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Violent-beating-of-three-seniors-in-San-14826900.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">violently beaten and robbed\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even now, writing about these attacks leaves me with feelings that are hard to parse. On one hand, there’s the grief—the mourning for those who suffered and those who’ve passed, something we’ve faced over and over again this year. Then there’s the rage. And beyond that is a deep-rooted despair at the system that’s failed our most vulnerable, and how little we’ve done to stop it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='large']\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It doesn’t matter how many years have passed, or how well white elites say Asians have integrated into America’s cultural fabric. T\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">he sentiment that we do not belong in this country always returns in times of crisis or socioeconomic hardship.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[/pullquote]\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In spaces ruptured by extreme wealth inequality and displacement, it can be hard to find community. Sometimes, like in our current moment, it takes a moment of crisis to come together and build. Sasanna Yee, the granddaughter of Yik Oi Huang, felt similarly after what happened to her grandmother in 2019: “Four days after her attack, I hosted and organized a healing through solidarity and song event for the community, so that we don’t have to carry this pain in isolation,” she tells me. “There was a Black community leader named \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://lihanlh.medium.com/petition-seeks-to-rename-san-francisco-park-in-remembrance-of-grandma-huang-4b7dec6fa222\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ronald Colthirst\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and he was so moved by the compassionate and collaborative nature of my work that he suggested having the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.rememberyikoihuang.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">park renamed [to Yik Oi Huang Peace and Friendship Park]\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">His idea sparked a movement. Since then, Sasanna has held many gatherings and activities, like yoga or sound meditation, to foster an environment of shared safety and healing in a space that’s been tainted with trauma. “Just a couple of weeks ago, two elderly [Chinese] women came up to me and said, ‘We walked the park with your grandmother for 20 years—it could have been any of us. We were devastated to hear about her loss,’” she recalled. “They were asking if there would be more gatherings, [since we met over Zoom during COVID] so that they could feel safe, like they could use the area in peace.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sasanna started the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"http://communitiesasone.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Communities as One\u003c/a> in January of 2020 to support these events and efforts to rename the park. Working in collaboration with a landscape architect, a community gardener and Colthirst, she hopes to add street lights and seating, as well as long-term programs that work towards building multigenerational and multicultural relationships. The focus group—which has been working since May 2020 to collect signatures and letters of support for the park renaming—is “very close” to submitting the proposal to the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Commission. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“That’s what I’ve learned through all this,” Sasanna said. “It’s such a blessing because if it weren’t for my grandmother, I would probably still be in isolation doing my own thing but because of [what happened], you really need community.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[dropcap]U[/dropcap]ltimately, building community and investing in our neighborhoods are crucial elements of how Bay Area organizers work to create public safety. Oakland-based \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://apen4ej.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">), a member of the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oakchinatowncoalition/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oakland Chinatown Coalition\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and a leader in the current organizing movement, focuses on exactly that through their \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chinatownimprovement.org/#chinatown-improvement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chinatown Ambassadors Program\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Founded in 2017, briefly \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/city-council-works-to-bring-back-oakland-chinatown-ambassadors-to-deter-violence/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20Chinatown%20Ambassador%20Program%20that,up%20litter%2C%20cleaning%20up%20graffiti.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">paused due to COVID in 2020\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and reinstated in 2021, the program centers neighborhood beautification, relationship-building with merchants and providing assistance for customers and residents. Originally designed as a partnership with the re-entry population, the program doesn’t depend on volunteering, which can be inconsistent. Instead, it offers formerly incarcerated folks job training opportunities—creating a sustainable, long-term framework for public safety that can also scale up through volunteers in moments we need rapid response.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I think for places like Chinatown, and I would also probably argue for Little Saigon as well, one thing to be said is ‘How does your physical environment allow you to feel safe and welcome?’” asked Alvina Wong, APEN’s campaign and organizing director. In addition to interacting with local merchants and visitors, Chinatown Ambassadors pick up trash and clear graffiti. They engage with unhoused people or those who seem lost. They file city complaints for issues like illegal dumping or cracked sidewalks. And they even put up decorations to celebrate Chinatown and breathe life into the space. [aside postid='arts_13895462']\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Similar to Sasanna’s work in Visitacion Valley, Wong feels that focusing on improving the neighborhood’s physical environment can help folks “feel a little bit more safe, to feel a little more investment that there are people looking out for you.” She continued: “Beautification isn’t just about cleaning—it’s also about using art and community to create space. Even in having space to do Tai Chi or fan dancing or play badminton—where do we actually get to infuse more of our culture? How do we allow for the environment and the space to feel alive and welcoming?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he concept of safety extends beyond public spaces—it’s related to economic and housing security, to educational opportunities and mental health support. It’s heavily grounded in our ability to simply \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">be\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, to exist without fear in a just and equitable society. In that sense, San Francisco’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://cpasf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chinese Progressive Association \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(CPA\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">) has been dedicated to Asian safety by advocating for tenants, workers and students in low-income immigrant and refugee communities for the last 50 years.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For Lai Wa Wu, the organization’s policy and alliance director, working towards these long-term solutions begins with understanding the issues facing Asian communities in San Francisco. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896337\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896337\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/PPE-distribution-w-volunteers-800x539.jpg\" alt=\"Volunteers with masks and gloves smile for a selfie.\" width=\"800\" height=\"539\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/PPE-distribution-w-volunteers-800x539.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/PPE-distribution-w-volunteers-1020x688.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/PPE-distribution-w-volunteers-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/PPE-distribution-w-volunteers-768x518.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/PPE-distribution-w-volunteers-1536x1035.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/PPE-distribution-w-volunteers-2048x1381.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/PPE-distribution-w-volunteers-1920x1294.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Volunteers with the Chinese Progressive Association distribute personal protective equipment in the community. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Chinese Progressive Association)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Asians represent a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://newrepublic.com/article/146587/silicon-valleys-forgotten-minority\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">significant portion of young workers in tech\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">so people often overlook the fact that Asians make up over \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.apicouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Press-Release_Budget_Disparity.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">42% of people living in poverty in San Francisco\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. That’s\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> even though we’re only 35% of the city’s overall population, according to a 2017 study.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“San Francisco’s Chinatown in particular has the highest concentration of [Asian] family members who live in single-room-occupancy hotels—basically a room with grandmas, grandpas, parents, children all under one roof,” Wu said. “CPA and other allied organizations are really trying to do the work to create a different story for our working class communities—not just to survive in moments of crisis, but also to truly honor and understand the working class experience from a place of pride. And to be able to connect all of us, especially working class immigrant communities, to their fullest power and fullest human development.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 2019, in the wake of the attacks on Yik Oi Huang and other Asian elders in San Francisco, CPA joined with three other organizations to form the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://cpasf.org/updates/san-franciscos-community-coalition-for-safety-and-justice-responds-to-gun-violence-massacre-in-atlanta/#:~:text=The%20Coalition%20for%20Community%20Safety%20and%20Justice%20(CCCJ)%2C%20comprises,our%20city's%20capacity%20to%20create\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coalition for Community Safety and Justice\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in an effort to create comprehensive services for victims and coordinate long-term solutions around accountability. Their approach is three-pronged: expand victim services (street outreach, escort programs, mental health, legal support), create a city-wide network between community organizations and city agencies, and organize spaces for cross-racial healing and dialogue. According to Wu, the coalition received city funding in June 2020, but “to this day, it’s not fully annualized in the budget.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it’s certainly not the first time CPA has struggled to find meaningful, consistent funding. Wu also noted that CPA has worked for over 10 years to create these long-term frameworks for Asian safety. But finding the space and funding outside of moments of crisis posed an unsurprising challenge. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wu recalled that 10 years ago, “People were naming the same concerns we’re naming today: No centralized city response, particularly to Asian crime survivors and their families. Not enough in-language outreach,” she said. “When the budget cycle came and the funds when the funds eventually left, leaders within these organizations still attempted to fill in these critical service gaps. But we can only fill these gaps for so long without sustainable resources.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, at a moment where the need for Asian safety is more noticeable than ever, the need for community and cross-racial healing could not be clearer. From rapid response programs to long-term investments like Sasanna’s park rejuvenation, it’s undeniably time for us to come together and build this new future.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“From a really microscopic level to a large macro level, if we don’t have relationships with each other, if we don’t trust each other, we’re never really gonna be safe,” Alvina Wong of APEN shared. “I think with all the displacement and gentrification we’ve been facing in the Bay, you have communities that have been able to build with each other now being separated and pitted against each other.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wu echoed that statement: “The third piece of our strategy is often the most challenging but deepest kind of work, which is kind of cross-racial healing and community building, so that we can address the roots behind some of the racial tensions and begin to engage in dialogue that humanizes each other instead of scapegoating each other.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a moment of such intense frustration, exhaustion and sadness, I hope our community can finally begin investing long-term in the safety of our people. I hope we feel it fully: The rage of our ancestors begging for justice, the pain of their suffering, the grief for all of those we’ve lost. And, finally, I hope we can come together to transform those feelings into change. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sasanna put it best. “You know, there’s a lot of unlearning to do. And this is an opportunity for us to get real, be authentic with our emotions, with our position in life,” she said. “And then to reach out for help and be in community—to reciprocate in community.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Ways to Get Involved\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Support Sasanna Yee’s park renaming by purchasing an \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://www.asians-belong.myshopify.com/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Asians Belong T-shirt\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>,\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> a project founded in the wake of her grandmother’s attack. Details \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.rememberyikoihuang.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">here\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Donate to APEN and Asian Health Services’ \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.classy.org/give/326018/#!/donation/checkout\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Victim Support Fund\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which directly provides financial resources for Asian victims of violence and the Chinatown Ambassadors Program. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Donate to the \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://cpasf.ourpowerbase.net/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=7\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chinese Progressive Association\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Correction: \u003c/strong>APEN’s Chinatown Ambassadors Program was launched in 2017, not 2019 as previously stated in this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Anti-Asian violence is nothing new. In the Bay Area, neighbors have been collaborating on long-term strategies to take care of one another.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">A\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>n “89-year-old grandma, who was brutally attacked on San Francisco playground, dies 1 year later,” read the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/yik-oi-huang-sf-grandma-dies-san-francisco-visitacion-valley/5815366/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">ABC7 News headline\u003c/span>\u003c/a> from January 2020\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. At the time, COVID-19 had only recently arrived in the United States, and I’d stumbled upon the article while trying to learn more about a video I’d seen circulating of an elderly Asian man \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/san-francisco-police-elderly-man-attacked-bayview-neighborhood-visitacion-valley/5964588/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">who was harassed and assaulted\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> while collecting cans in San Francisco. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since the pandemic began, many of us (\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13880441/asian-american-protest-art-pandemic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">myself included\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">) have held former President Trump’s xenophobic rhetoric responsible for the surge in anti-Asian sentiment and violence across the country. His comments calling the novel coronavirus a “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/us/politics/china-virus.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chinese virus\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” or “Kung Flu\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” for which the U.S. should “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3104611/donald-trump-new-video-vows-make-china-pay-coronavirus-pandemic\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[make] China pay\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” have undoubtedly poured fuel on the flame. But reading about the 2019 attack on a grandmother reminded me of a haunting, unshakeable truth: This anti-Asian violence is nothing new.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since the first wave of Chinese laborers arrived in the U.S. in the 1850s, Asians in America have occupied the role of “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3092701/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">perpetual foreigners\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” and been subjected to violence and animosity for our existence as “outsiders” in this country. Despite some recent attention, in general, that history isn’t commonly taught. Few people know, for instance, that the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/chinese-massacre-1871\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chinese Massacre of 1871\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in Los Angeles was the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://academic.oup.com/jah/article-abstract/100/1/217/747629?redirectedFrom=fulltext\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">largest mass lynching\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in U.S. history, or that most of San Francisco’s Chinatown was burned down during the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/1877-san-francisco-anti-chinese-race-riots-11302710.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Riots of 1877\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">—when mobs of white laborers stormed the neighborhood, burning buildings and killing Chinese workers in anger that they were taking over the workforce. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It doesn’t matter how many years have passed, or how well white elites say Asians have integrated into America’s cultural fabric. T\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">he sentiment that we do not belong in this country always returns in times of \u003ca href=\"https://news.berkeley.edu/2021/03/17/berkeley-expert-in-times-of-crisis-anti-asian-violence-is-an-american-tradition/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">crisis or socioeconomic hardship\u003c/a>. And in the Bay Area, a space heavily impacted by meteoric gentrification and the constant threat of displacement, that state of crisis can feel constant for many communities.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">T\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>hat 89-year-old grandmother I read about was Yik Oi Huang. In January 2019, she \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-loving-memories-of-grandma-huang\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">was brutally attacked\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> while doing her daily morning exercise at a park in Visitacion Valley in an attempt to rob her house across the street. She was kept on life support until early 2020, when she ultimately passed away from her injuries. That same year, three elderly men in San Francisco Chinatown were also \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Violent-beating-of-three-seniors-in-San-14826900.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">violently beaten and robbed\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even now, writing about these attacks leaves me with feelings that are hard to parse. On one hand, there’s the grief—the mourning for those who suffered and those who’ve passed, something we’ve faced over and over again this year. Then there’s the rage. And beyond that is a deep-rooted despair at the system that’s failed our most vulnerable, and how little we’ve done to stop it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">It doesn’t matter how many years have passed, or how well white elites say Asians have integrated into America’s cultural fabric. T\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">he sentiment that we do not belong in this country always returns in times of crisis or socioeconomic hardship.\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In spaces ruptured by extreme wealth inequality and displacement, it can be hard to find community. Sometimes, like in our current moment, it takes a moment of crisis to come together and build. Sasanna Yee, the granddaughter of Yik Oi Huang, felt similarly after what happened to her grandmother in 2019: “Four days after her attack, I hosted and organized a healing through solidarity and song event for the community, so that we don’t have to carry this pain in isolation,” she tells me. “There was a Black community leader named \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://lihanlh.medium.com/petition-seeks-to-rename-san-francisco-park-in-remembrance-of-grandma-huang-4b7dec6fa222\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ronald Colthirst\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, and he was so moved by the compassionate and collaborative nature of my work that he suggested having the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://www.rememberyikoihuang.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">park renamed [to Yik Oi Huang Peace and Friendship Park]\u003c/span>\u003c/a>.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">His idea sparked a movement. Since then, Sasanna has held many gatherings and activities, like yoga or sound meditation, to foster an environment of shared safety and healing in a space that’s been tainted with trauma. “Just a couple of weeks ago, two elderly [Chinese] women came up to me and said, ‘We walked the park with your grandmother for 20 years—it could have been any of us. We were devastated to hear about her loss,’” she recalled. “They were asking if there would be more gatherings, [since we met over Zoom during COVID] so that they could feel safe, like they could use the area in peace.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sasanna started the nonprofit \u003ca href=\"http://communitiesasone.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Communities as One\u003c/a> in January of 2020 to support these events and efforts to rename the park. Working in collaboration with a landscape architect, a community gardener and Colthirst, she hopes to add street lights and seating, as well as long-term programs that work towards building multigenerational and multicultural relationships. The focus group—which has been working since May 2020 to collect signatures and letters of support for the park renaming—is “very close” to submitting the proposal to the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Commission. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“That’s what I’ve learned through all this,” Sasanna said. “It’s such a blessing because if it weren’t for my grandmother, I would probably still be in isolation doing my own thing but because of [what happened], you really need community.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">U\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>ltimately, building community and investing in our neighborhoods are crucial elements of how Bay Area organizers work to create public safety. Oakland-based \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://apen4ej.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">), a member of the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oakchinatowncoalition/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oakland Chinatown Coalition\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and a leader in the current organizing movement, focuses on exactly that through their \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.chinatownimprovement.org/#chinatown-improvement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chinatown Ambassadors Program\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Founded in 2017, briefly \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/city-council-works-to-bring-back-oakland-chinatown-ambassadors-to-deter-violence/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20Chinatown%20Ambassador%20Program%20that,up%20litter%2C%20cleaning%20up%20graffiti.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">paused due to COVID in 2020\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and reinstated in 2021, the program centers neighborhood beautification, relationship-building with merchants and providing assistance for customers and residents. Originally designed as a partnership with the re-entry population, the program doesn’t depend on volunteering, which can be inconsistent. Instead, it offers formerly incarcerated folks job training opportunities—creating a sustainable, long-term framework for public safety that can also scale up through volunteers in moments we need rapid response.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I think for places like Chinatown, and I would also probably argue for Little Saigon as well, one thing to be said is ‘How does your physical environment allow you to feel safe and welcome?’” asked Alvina Wong, APEN’s campaign and organizing director. In addition to interacting with local merchants and visitors, Chinatown Ambassadors pick up trash and clear graffiti. They engage with unhoused people or those who seem lost. They file city complaints for issues like illegal dumping or cracked sidewalks. And they even put up decorations to celebrate Chinatown and breathe life into the space. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Similar to Sasanna’s work in Visitacion Valley, Wong feels that focusing on improving the neighborhood’s physical environment can help folks “feel a little bit more safe, to feel a little more investment that there are people looking out for you.” She continued: “Beautification isn’t just about cleaning—it’s also about using art and community to create space. Even in having space to do Tai Chi or fan dancing or play badminton—where do we actually get to infuse more of our culture? How do we allow for the environment and the space to feel alive and welcoming?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">T\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>he concept of safety extends beyond public spaces—it’s related to economic and housing security, to educational opportunities and mental health support. It’s heavily grounded in our ability to simply \u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">be\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, to exist without fear in a just and equitable society. In that sense, San Francisco’s \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://cpasf.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chinese Progressive Association \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">(CPA\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">) has been dedicated to Asian safety by advocating for tenants, workers and students in low-income immigrant and refugee communities for the last 50 years.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For Lai Wa Wu, the organization’s policy and alliance director, working towards these long-term solutions begins with understanding the issues facing Asian communities in San Francisco. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13896337\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-13896337\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/PPE-distribution-w-volunteers-800x539.jpg\" alt=\"Volunteers with masks and gloves smile for a selfie.\" width=\"800\" height=\"539\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/PPE-distribution-w-volunteers-800x539.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/PPE-distribution-w-volunteers-1020x688.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/PPE-distribution-w-volunteers-160x108.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/PPE-distribution-w-volunteers-768x518.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/PPE-distribution-w-volunteers-1536x1035.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/PPE-distribution-w-volunteers-2048x1381.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/PPE-distribution-w-volunteers-1920x1294.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Volunteers with the Chinese Progressive Association distribute personal protective equipment in the community. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of the Chinese Progressive Association)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Asians represent a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://newrepublic.com/article/146587/silicon-valleys-forgotten-minority\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">significant portion of young workers in tech\u003c/span>\u003c/a>, \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">so people often overlook the fact that Asians make up over \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.apicouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Press-Release_Budget_Disparity.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">42% of people living in poverty in San Francisco\u003c/span>\u003c/a>. That’s\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> even though we’re only 35% of the city’s overall population, according to a 2017 study.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“San Francisco’s Chinatown in particular has the highest concentration of [Asian] family members who live in single-room-occupancy hotels—basically a room with grandmas, grandpas, parents, children all under one roof,” Wu said. “CPA and other allied organizations are really trying to do the work to create a different story for our working class communities—not just to survive in moments of crisis, but also to truly honor and understand the working class experience from a place of pride. And to be able to connect all of us, especially working class immigrant communities, to their fullest power and fullest human development.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 2019, in the wake of the attacks on Yik Oi Huang and other Asian elders in San Francisco, CPA joined with three other organizations to form the \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://cpasf.org/updates/san-franciscos-community-coalition-for-safety-and-justice-responds-to-gun-violence-massacre-in-atlanta/#:~:text=The%20Coalition%20for%20Community%20Safety%20and%20Justice%20(CCCJ)%2C%20comprises,our%20city's%20capacity%20to%20create\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Coalition for Community Safety and Justice\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in an effort to create comprehensive services for victims and coordinate long-term solutions around accountability. Their approach is three-pronged: expand victim services (street outreach, escort programs, mental health, legal support), create a city-wide network between community organizations and city agencies, and organize spaces for cross-racial healing and dialogue. According to Wu, the coalition received city funding in June 2020, but “to this day, it’s not fully annualized in the budget.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And it’s certainly not the first time CPA has struggled to find meaningful, consistent funding. Wu also noted that CPA has worked for over 10 years to create these long-term frameworks for Asian safety. But finding the space and funding outside of moments of crisis posed an unsurprising challenge. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wu recalled that 10 years ago, “People were naming the same concerns we’re naming today: No centralized city response, particularly to Asian crime survivors and their families. Not enough in-language outreach,” she said. “When the budget cycle came and the funds when the funds eventually left, leaders within these organizations still attempted to fill in these critical service gaps. But we can only fill these gaps for so long without sustainable resources.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Now, at a moment where the need for Asian safety is more noticeable than ever, the need for community and cross-racial healing could not be clearer. From rapid response programs to long-term investments like Sasanna’s park rejuvenation, it’s undeniably time for us to come together and build this new future.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“From a really microscopic level to a large macro level, if we don’t have relationships with each other, if we don’t trust each other, we’re never really gonna be safe,” Alvina Wong of APEN shared. “I think with all the displacement and gentrification we’ve been facing in the Bay, you have communities that have been able to build with each other now being separated and pitted against each other.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wu echoed that statement: “The third piece of our strategy is often the most challenging but deepest kind of work, which is kind of cross-racial healing and community building, so that we can address the roots behind some of the racial tensions and begin to engage in dialogue that humanizes each other instead of scapegoating each other.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a moment of such intense frustration, exhaustion and sadness, I hope our community can finally begin investing long-term in the safety of our people. I hope we feel it fully: The rage of our ancestors begging for justice, the pain of their suffering, the grief for all of those we’ve lost. And, finally, I hope we can come together to transform those feelings into change. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sasanna put it best. “You know, there’s a lot of unlearning to do. And this is an opportunity for us to get real, be authentic with our emotions, with our position in life,” she said. “And then to reach out for help and be in community—to reciprocate in community.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Ways to Get Involved\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Support Sasanna Yee’s park renaming by purchasing an \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"http://www.asians-belong.myshopify.com/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Asians Belong T-shirt\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>,\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> a project founded in the wake of her grandmother’s attack. Details \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.rememberyikoihuang.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">here\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Donate to APEN and Asian Health Services’ \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.classy.org/give/326018/#!/donation/checkout\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Victim Support Fund\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which directly provides financial resources for Asian victims of violence and the Chinatown Ambassadors Program. \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Donate to the \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://cpasf.ourpowerbase.net/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=7\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chinese Progressive Association\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cstrong>Correction: \u003c/strong>APEN’s Chinatown Ambassadors Program was launched in 2017, not 2019 as previously stated in this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "a-salute-to-san-francisco-rap",
"title": "A Salute to San Francisco Rap",
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"headTitle": "A Salute to San Francisco Rap | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">B\u003c/span>ack in December of 2020, as Vallejo’s E-40 and Oakland’s Too $hort \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13890437/e-40-and-too-horts-verzuz-battle-a-treasure-trove-of-bay-area-hip-hop-culture\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">celebrated the Bay’s hip-hop culture\u003c/a> during a Verzuz event, I got to thinking: the East Bay may have its icons, but someone should write about the current state of San Francisco’s rap scene. It’s lightweight on fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Artists are active. Songs are slapping. Community is coming together. And this might only be \u003cem>the start\u003c/em>. That is, if it’s handled properly. At least that’s what people are telling me.\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superstar \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/24kgoldn/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">24K Goldn\u003c/a> is on the path to Bieber status. Rapper and \u003ca href=\"https://cookies.co/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cookies\u003c/a> cannabis company founder \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/berner415/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Berner\u003c/a> is one of the biggest kingpins in the legal marijuana industry. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/larryjunetfm/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Larry June\u003c/a> raps about player stuff like expensive watches and green smoothies, has a signature \u003ca href=\"https://www.lakai.com/collections/larry-june\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lakai shoe\u003c/a> and is behind the\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/honeybearboba_/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Honey Bear boba shop\u003c/a> in the Dogpatch neighborhood—yet somehow still drops albums as often as BART experiences delays. (As he’d say to himself, “Good job, Larry.”) And \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/empire/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Empire\u003c/a>, arguably the most influential independent rap label in the world right now, is based in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But what does this all mean? Is SF having “a moment”? If so, where does this moment stand in the larger scope of things?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I started researching by listening to everything from San Francisco I could find.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/PqQHpU6Wli4\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> gigged to\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thereal_lilkayla/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Lil Kayla\u003c/a>‘s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CJkNmPgx6A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Clone Me\u003c/a>” featuring East Oakland’s\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/officialsulan/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Su’lan\u003c/a>. And I bobbed my head to the bars that\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/FrakThePerson/status/1364381425953165312?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Frak The Person\u003c/a> kicked over the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/bakarybeatchallenge/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bakary beat challenge\u003c/a>, which went so stupid \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Kehlani/status/1364635081998880769?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kehlani had to comment\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I read about \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ladona415/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">La Doña\u003c/a> in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/03/10/magazine/la-dona.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>,\u003c/a> and just watched her latest video for “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfqhEks9mCY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Setas y Ceros\u003c/a>“—she’s singing and she’s spittin’. I gave that new Show Banga and IAMSU! song, “\u003ca href=\"https://song.link/i/1562344727\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lonely\u003c/a>” a spin. I added \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dregs_one/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dregs One’s\u003c/a> new track “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRk_UNXtpUc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fog Mode\u003c/a>” (featuring Andre Nickatina), City P’s “\u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/supastarcity/top-down\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Top Down\u003c/a>” and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CNOBPFmBKHM/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lil Yee\u003c/a>‘s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Zbxnbh7o5XE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steppin’ On Steppers\u003c/a>” to my playlist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ahead of an upcoming episode of my \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/rightnowish\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Rightnowish\u003c/em> podcast\u003c/a> I read \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rockyrivera/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rocky Rivera\u003c/a>‘s book \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13894648/rapper-and-activist-rocky-rivera-embraces-growth-in-her-first-book-snakeskin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Snakeskin\u003c/em>\u003c/a> and reviewed her entire musical catalog. And through a recently published interview with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13895377/these-artists-amplify-415-days-message-of-resistance-resilience-and-restitution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cereal for The Kids and Baghead\u003c/a>, I found out about the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oldsoulko/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Old Soul Kollective\u003c/a>, as well as so many other artists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yung Lott’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqQHpU6Wli4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">How To Survive\u003c/a>” has that classic west coast kick. Galaxy Atoms’ just-dropped “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndK9zBP_O0s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MVP\u003c/a>” sounds like newer west coast flavor. I know that \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/RichieCunning\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Richie Cunning\u003c/a> is entertaining on Twitter, as well as on the track. And I know that \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/adamraps/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Adam Raps\u003c/a>, a.k.a. A-1, just celebrated a birthday and is about to release new music.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/oTBurjAiL2g\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/gunnagoesglobal/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gunna Goes Global\u003c/a> is headlining \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CNoGm6YscGB/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a 415 Day show\u003c/a>, alongside \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/stunnaman02/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">StunnaMan02\u003c/a> (aka Jordan Gomes)—and both Gunna and Gomes are also thespians, featured in the film \u003cem>The Last Black Man in San Francisco\u003c/em>, amongst other projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I revisited Bby Laana’s “2018 Freestyle” and the “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HynpJ0ZHojE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lose Control Freestyle\u003c/a>” that she dropped the following year. I listened to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/troyllf/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Troy LLF’s\u003c/a> \u003cem>Free Play 4 \u003c/em>and a few of the projects he dropped before that. I got put on to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/soviciousofficial/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">So Vicious \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/drew_beez_/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Drew Beez\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I talked to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/y0ungbari/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Young Bari,\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/08_zaybang/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ZayBang\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lilbean/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lil Bean\u003c/a>, who all, in one way or another, told me the City’s rap scene is definitely having a moment. I read about the recent passing of 11-5’s Maine-O, and I also re-read the circumstances around \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-11-30/rapper-lil-yase-shot-san-francisco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lil Yase’s death\u003c/a>; a sad loss of so much potential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13895805\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13895805\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_0651.jpg\" alt=\"Hugh E.M.C poses for a photo for his album cover, as drug paraphernalia, a gun and cash lay in front of him.\" width=\"600\" height=\"409\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_0651.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_0651-160x109.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hugh E.M.C in a photoshoot for his 1994 album ‘The Mob.’ \u003ccite>(Via Hugh E.M.C. )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> even went back, and called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hughemc/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hugh E.M.C.\u003c/a>, the artist behind the early ’90s song “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o7KJcYEX80\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">H N*gga Groove (Keep a B*tch Broke)\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hugh, following his\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> “\u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/hugh-emc/sets/hiphopmanifesto\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hip Hop Manifesto\u003c/a>,” is \u003c/span>now encouraging\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> artists to put out one conscious song per project. In regards to the current rap scene in San Francisco, he says, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“This is a \u003cem>type\u003c/em> of moment, but when I compare it to the past, San Francisco artists were having multi-regional, almost national moments… I would love to see it jump to another level.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I called up another Frisco vet, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/equipto_415/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Equipto\u003c/a>, who also got his start in the ’90s, and is steeped in community activism. He helped launch the anti-police hunger strike by the\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/rapper-frisco-five-protester-equipto-arrested-in-mission-district-confrontation-with-police/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Frisco Five\u003c/a> and currently works with \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/frisco_copwatch/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Frisco Cop Watch\u003c/a>—in addition to advocating for the unsheltered community through\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.poormagazine.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Poor Magazine\u003c/a>. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Equipto, who recently dropped a new project with \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9pTDmqO_h7UkQtdAYLCmaQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Watershed\u003c/a>, says, “Frisco ain’t never really had that highlight—the Bay Area might’ve—but Frisco never really had that run. And that’s what’s cultivating right now. There’s more eyes are on San Francisco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Equipto tells me that SF always had that “underground, solid, rawness of what the industry needed.” But despite the notoriety of artists like Rappin’ 4-Tay and the late Cougnut, “We were just kind of always overlooked in the economics of it,” says Equipto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13895804\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-13895804\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_2507-1020x1530.jpg\" alt=\"Big Rich wears a leather letterman jacket and a big chain with his initials as he looks into the lens.\" width=\"640\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_2507-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_2507-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_2507-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_2507-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_2507-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_2507.jpg 1365w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Big Rich, cofounder of Project Level, turned “tragedy into triumph.” \u003ccite>(BillionDreams)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>sk \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/deo415/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">D.E.O\u003c/a>, founder of the \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/trackdout\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trackdout app\u003c/a> and half of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/evenoddsmusic/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Evenodds\u003c/a> production team, and he’ll tell you that he believes there’s something good happening in his city too. But he’s weary of pitfalls that have come about in the past—namely the “politics,” in addition to the economics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The street politics of the City has been the curse of Frisco,” says D.E.O. “It goes back to RBL. One of the greatest hip-hop groups of all time was dismantled because of street beef.” D.E.O believes the murders of the RBL Posse’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/THE-KILLING-STREETS-A-Cycle-of-Vengeance-2839391.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hitman and Mr. Cee\u003c/a> played a significant role in labels turning their backs on San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He tells me that the divisions amongst communities, and the propensity for rappers to keep one foot in the streets while trying to run a legitimate business, have proven to be a major hurdle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“A lot of Frisco artists,” says D.E.O, “don’t look at themselves as a commodity, they look at themselves as the savior of the hood—when it’s bigger than the hood. It’s fine to want to save the hood and everything, but you’ve got to think more about the corporate structure. How do real corporations work?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Richard “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/big.rich/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Big Rich\u003c/a>” Bougere is a well-known San Francisco rapper who has some knowledge of how both the rap game and big corporations work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2012, Big Rich parlayed his name recognition from music into an arts-based nonprofit for young folks called \u003ca href=\"https://www.projectlevel.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Project Level\u003c/a>, which he co-founded with his partner \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/industrymomma/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Danielle Banks\u003c/a>. After an incident in the summer of 2019, where staff of the major fashion retailer Forever 21 mistakenly accused young folks from Project Level of stealing, the two groups met and developed\u003ca href=\"https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/06/20/racial-profiling-incident-at-forever-21-leads-to-remarkable-partnership-for-non-profit-group/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> a partnership\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We turned tragedy into triumph,” Big Rich tells me during a phone call. “It opened up doors, we have Black equity in a major corporation.” It’s a\u003c/span> big 180° to the way big companies treated Big Rich’s business when he was rapping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now he wants to see more investment from billion-dollar corporations into the careers of young artists of color. \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“This is the culture of the industry, this is where the money is generated from,” says Big Rich of the young people he works with. “We have to reinvest into these communities.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through Project Level, Big Rich has also seen how investing in the community can lead to striking gold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/trU-S53fK04\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">O\u003c/span>n a rainy April 15th, at a 415 Day celebration in 2018, a young artist named \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/24kgoldn/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">24K Goldn\u003c/a> grabbed the microphone. \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“H\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">e electrified the stage, but no one was really there,” says Big Rich. “I was like, ‘This kid is dope!'”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After learning that 24K Goldn was already en route to USC in the fall, Big Rich connected him to a manager in Southern California. Now 24K Goldn, who went \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/24kGoldn/status/1258103370562146304?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">platinum last year\u003c/a> and just dropped a new album, \u003cem>El Dorado\u003c/em>, a month ago,\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> “is arguably the hottest artist in the country right now,” according to Big Rich—and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/music/24kgoldn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Billboard charts\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now the question is, how can more San Francisco artists shine like 24K Goldn?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a question that’s not just about talent. It’s about “politics,” structure and business acumen. It’s about navigating the high cost of living. And, for some, it’s about being a member of the small percentage of working class Black and brown folks struggling to make ends meet in one the world’s most expensive cities—and still make art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ghazi at Empire has a plan,” Big Rich tells me. “He’s investing in artists in the City, and I think it’s going to pay off.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13895809\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-13895809\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/unnamed-2021-04-09T131257.477-1020x1020.jpg\" alt=\"The cover of 'Zaytoven Presents Fo15,' released by Empire. \" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/unnamed-2021-04-09T131257.477-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/unnamed-2021-04-09T131257.477-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/unnamed-2021-04-09T131257.477-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/unnamed-2021-04-09T131257.477-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/unnamed-2021-04-09T131257.477.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The cover of ‘Zaytoven Presents Fo15,’ released by Empire.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">“I\u003c/span> didn’t realize we were having a moment,” Ghazi says during a Zoom call earlier this week. “I was trying to create a moment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ghazi/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ghazi\u003c/a> is the head of the major independent label Empire, and the A&R behind the newly released album, \u003cem>Zaytoven Presents:\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.empi.re/listen/index.php?id=172356\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fo15\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, which celebrates some of San Francisco’s rawest talent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The album is produced by San Francisco’s own mega-producer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/zaytovenbeatz/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zaytoven\u003c/a>, known for his collaborations with southern rappers like Gucci Mane. The album features members of Frisco’s next wave of stars: Lil Bean, ZayBang, Prezi, Kxng Lamma and Lil Pete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ghazi, who grew up listening to artists like \u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/artist/338893-IMP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">I.M.P\u003c/a>. and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/artist/332457-Get-Low-Playaz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Get Low Playaz\u003c/a>, says, “A big part of putting this project together was to do for the next generation what those artists did for me, which is creating bigger and better things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says that in the past, a lot of the issues the City’s rap scene faced were “due to lack of infrastructure, lack of proper mentorship, the political landscape that surrounds a lot of the neighborhoods, the socioeconomics,” and a bunch of other things going on in the City. But now there’s potential do things differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ghazi makes a basketball comparison, saying that an artist putting up great individual stats isn’t the same as the whole team putting up great stats, or having a coaching staff that can compete with the rest of the league. “We’ve always had the talented players,” says Ghazi of San Francisco’s artists. “But we never had the franchise, we never had the coaching staff, and we never ran an 82 game season.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/uZpWqUpAbbo\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In my mind, San Francisco is not having a moment,” Ghazi tells me over the video chat as he drives through East Oakland. “In my mind, the whole entire Bay Area has been dry for quite some time, and most people have no idea what the glory years were like in the Bay… \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s a little bit of something happening, and I wouldn’t call it a moment, but there’s potential for a great moment if we stay on it. I wouldn’t call it a moment, yet.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the primary hurdles the City faces is the issue with talent leaving—not just artists, but talented people who work behind the scenes in businesses that support the industry. That’s why Ghazi’s been mindful to keep his company in San Francisco and create space for culture to flourish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This album is proof of the factory existing,” says Ghazi of the \u003cem>Fo15\u003c/em> project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now, in order to get to that true “moment”—or rather, a time period of extended success for San Francisco—Ghazi has a simple formula.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We gotta tell our story,” Ghazi tells me. He’s firm in his beliefs that people should know and be proud of all of the talent that has come from San Francisco—from Andre Nickatina to Apple’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thelarryjackson/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Larry Jackson\u003c/a> (who plays a significant role in making those \u003ca href=\"https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/08/13/apple-musics-larry-jackson-weighs-in-on-verzuz-collaboration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Verzuz events\u003c/a> happen) and back to every rapper named in this article.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more individual success stories you create, you raise the economy of the region,” says Ghazi. “When you raise the overall economy of the region, people are less inclined to leave the region because they have something to do. And when people don’t leave, you keep the talent in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a kid from Oakland who grew up listening to E-40 and Too $hort, as well as Messy Marv, JT the Bigga Figga, and San Quinn, I get it. We’re a vast region with different cultures in each city, neighborhood and block. That said, when one section is going about their business correctly, the honorable thing to do is give them a salute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco, here’s to you.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The City got somethin' to say, that's all I got to say.",
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"title": "A Salute to San Francisco Rap | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">B\u003c/span>ack in December of 2020, as Vallejo’s E-40 and Oakland’s Too $hort \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13890437/e-40-and-too-horts-verzuz-battle-a-treasure-trove-of-bay-area-hip-hop-culture\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">celebrated the Bay’s hip-hop culture\u003c/a> during a Verzuz event, I got to thinking: the East Bay may have its icons, but someone should write about the current state of San Francisco’s rap scene. It’s lightweight on fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Artists are active. Songs are slapping. Community is coming together. And this might only be \u003cem>the start\u003c/em>. That is, if it’s handled properly. At least that’s what people are telling me.\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13833985\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_-160x184.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/05/OGPenn.Cap_.jpg 180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superstar \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/24kgoldn/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">24K Goldn\u003c/a> is on the path to Bieber status. Rapper and \u003ca href=\"https://cookies.co/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cookies\u003c/a> cannabis company founder \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/berner415/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Berner\u003c/a> is one of the biggest kingpins in the legal marijuana industry. \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/larryjunetfm/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Larry June\u003c/a> raps about player stuff like expensive watches and green smoothies, has a signature \u003ca href=\"https://www.lakai.com/collections/larry-june\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lakai shoe\u003c/a> and is behind the\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/honeybearboba_/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Honey Bear boba shop\u003c/a> in the Dogpatch neighborhood—yet somehow still drops albums as often as BART experiences delays. (As he’d say to himself, “Good job, Larry.”) And \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/empire/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Empire\u003c/a>, arguably the most influential independent rap label in the world right now, is based in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But what does this all mean? Is SF having “a moment”? If so, where does this moment stand in the larger scope of things?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I started researching by listening to everything from San Francisco I could find.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/PqQHpU6Wli4'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/PqQHpU6Wli4'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> gigged to\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thereal_lilkayla/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Lil Kayla\u003c/a>‘s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CJkNmPgx6A\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Clone Me\u003c/a>” featuring East Oakland’s\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/officialsulan/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Su’lan\u003c/a>. And I bobbed my head to the bars that\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/FrakThePerson/status/1364381425953165312?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Frak The Person\u003c/a> kicked over the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/bakarybeatchallenge/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bakary beat challenge\u003c/a>, which went so stupid \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/Kehlani/status/1364635081998880769?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kehlani had to comment\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I read about \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ladona415/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">La Doña\u003c/a> in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/03/10/magazine/la-dona.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>,\u003c/a> and just watched her latest video for “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfqhEks9mCY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Setas y Ceros\u003c/a>“—she’s singing and she’s spittin’. I gave that new Show Banga and IAMSU! song, “\u003ca href=\"https://song.link/i/1562344727\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lonely\u003c/a>” a spin. I added \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/dregs_one/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dregs One’s\u003c/a> new track “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRk_UNXtpUc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fog Mode\u003c/a>” (featuring Andre Nickatina), City P’s “\u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/supastarcity/top-down\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Top Down\u003c/a>” and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CNOBPFmBKHM/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lil Yee\u003c/a>‘s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Zbxnbh7o5XE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steppin’ On Steppers\u003c/a>” to my playlist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ahead of an upcoming episode of my \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/rightnowish\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Rightnowish\u003c/em> podcast\u003c/a> I read \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/rockyrivera/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rocky Rivera\u003c/a>‘s book \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13894648/rapper-and-activist-rocky-rivera-embraces-growth-in-her-first-book-snakeskin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Snakeskin\u003c/em>\u003c/a> and reviewed her entire musical catalog. And through a recently published interview with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13895377/these-artists-amplify-415-days-message-of-resistance-resilience-and-restitution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cereal for The Kids and Baghead\u003c/a>, I found out about the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/oldsoulko/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Old Soul Kollective\u003c/a>, as well as so many other artists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yung Lott’s “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqQHpU6Wli4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">How To Survive\u003c/a>” has that classic west coast kick. Galaxy Atoms’ just-dropped “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndK9zBP_O0s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MVP\u003c/a>” sounds like newer west coast flavor. I know that \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/RichieCunning\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Richie Cunning\u003c/a> is entertaining on Twitter, as well as on the track. And I know that \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/adamraps/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Adam Raps\u003c/a>, a.k.a. A-1, just celebrated a birthday and is about to release new music.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/oTBurjAiL2g'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/oTBurjAiL2g'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/gunnagoesglobal/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gunna Goes Global\u003c/a> is headlining \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CNoGm6YscGB/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a 415 Day show\u003c/a>, alongside \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/stunnaman02/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">StunnaMan02\u003c/a> (aka Jordan Gomes)—and both Gunna and Gomes are also thespians, featured in the film \u003cem>The Last Black Man in San Francisco\u003c/em>, amongst other projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I revisited Bby Laana’s “2018 Freestyle” and the “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HynpJ0ZHojE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lose Control Freestyle\u003c/a>” that she dropped the following year. I listened to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/troyllf/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Troy LLF’s\u003c/a> \u003cem>Free Play 4 \u003c/em>and a few of the projects he dropped before that. I got put on to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/soviciousofficial/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">So Vicious \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/drew_beez_/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Drew Beez\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I talked to \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/y0ungbari/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Young Bari,\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/08_zaybang/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ZayBang\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/lilbean/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lil Bean\u003c/a>, who all, in one way or another, told me the City’s rap scene is definitely having a moment. I read about the recent passing of 11-5’s Maine-O, and I also re-read the circumstances around \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-11-30/rapper-lil-yase-shot-san-francisco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lil Yase’s death\u003c/a>; a sad loss of so much potential.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13895805\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13895805\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_0651.jpg\" alt=\"Hugh E.M.C poses for a photo for his album cover, as drug paraphernalia, a gun and cash lay in front of him.\" width=\"600\" height=\"409\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_0651.jpg 600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_0651-160x109.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hugh E.M.C in a photoshoot for his 1994 album ‘The Mob.’ \u003ccite>(Via Hugh E.M.C. )\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">I\u003c/span> even went back, and called \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/hughemc/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hugh E.M.C.\u003c/a>, the artist behind the early ’90s song “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o7KJcYEX80\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">H N*gga Groove (Keep a B*tch Broke)\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hugh, following his\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> “\u003ca href=\"https://soundcloud.com/hugh-emc/sets/hiphopmanifesto\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hip Hop Manifesto\u003c/a>,” is \u003c/span>now encouraging\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> artists to put out one conscious song per project. In regards to the current rap scene in San Francisco, he says, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“This is a \u003cem>type\u003c/em> of moment, but when I compare it to the past, San Francisco artists were having multi-regional, almost national moments… I would love to see it jump to another level.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I called up another Frisco vet, \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/equipto_415/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Equipto\u003c/a>, who also got his start in the ’90s, and is steeped in community activism. He helped launch the anti-police hunger strike by the\u003ca href=\"https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/rapper-frisco-five-protester-equipto-arrested-in-mission-district-confrontation-with-police/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Frisco Five\u003c/a> and currently works with \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/frisco_copwatch/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Frisco Cop Watch\u003c/a>—in addition to advocating for the unsheltered community through\u003c/span> \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.poormagazine.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Poor Magazine\u003c/a>. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Equipto, who recently dropped a new project with \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9pTDmqO_h7UkQtdAYLCmaQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Watershed\u003c/a>, says, “Frisco ain’t never really had that highlight—the Bay Area might’ve—but Frisco never really had that run. And that’s what’s cultivating right now. There’s more eyes are on San Francisco.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Equipto tells me that SF always had that “underground, solid, rawness of what the industry needed.” But despite the notoriety of artists like Rappin’ 4-Tay and the late Cougnut, “We were just kind of always overlooked in the economics of it,” says Equipto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13895804\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-13895804\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_2507-1020x1530.jpg\" alt=\"Big Rich wears a leather letterman jacket and a big chain with his initials as he looks into the lens.\" width=\"640\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_2507-1020x1530.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_2507-800x1200.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_2507-160x240.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_2507-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_2507-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/IMG_2507.jpg 1365w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Big Rich, cofounder of Project Level, turned “tragedy into triumph.” \u003ccite>(BillionDreams)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">A\u003c/span>sk \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/deo415/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">D.E.O\u003c/a>, founder of the \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/trackdout\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Trackdout app\u003c/a> and half of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/evenoddsmusic/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Evenodds\u003c/a> production team, and he’ll tell you that he believes there’s something good happening in his city too. But he’s weary of pitfalls that have come about in the past—namely the “politics,” in addition to the economics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The street politics of the City has been the curse of Frisco,” says D.E.O. “It goes back to RBL. One of the greatest hip-hop groups of all time was dismantled because of street beef.” D.E.O believes the murders of the RBL Posse’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/THE-KILLING-STREETS-A-Cycle-of-Vengeance-2839391.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hitman and Mr. Cee\u003c/a> played a significant role in labels turning their backs on San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He tells me that the divisions amongst communities, and the propensity for rappers to keep one foot in the streets while trying to run a legitimate business, have proven to be a major hurdle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“A lot of Frisco artists,” says D.E.O, “don’t look at themselves as a commodity, they look at themselves as the savior of the hood—when it’s bigger than the hood. It’s fine to want to save the hood and everything, but you’ve got to think more about the corporate structure. How do real corporations work?”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Richard “\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/big.rich/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Big Rich\u003c/a>” Bougere is a well-known San Francisco rapper who has some knowledge of how both the rap game and big corporations work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2012, Big Rich parlayed his name recognition from music into an arts-based nonprofit for young folks called \u003ca href=\"https://www.projectlevel.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Project Level\u003c/a>, which he co-founded with his partner \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/industrymomma/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Danielle Banks\u003c/a>. After an incident in the summer of 2019, where staff of the major fashion retailer Forever 21 mistakenly accused young folks from Project Level of stealing, the two groups met and developed\u003ca href=\"https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/06/20/racial-profiling-incident-at-forever-21-leads-to-remarkable-partnership-for-non-profit-group/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> a partnership\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“We turned tragedy into triumph,” Big Rich tells me during a phone call. “It opened up doors, we have Black equity in a major corporation.” It’s a\u003c/span> big 180° to the way big companies treated Big Rich’s business when he was rapping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now he wants to see more investment from billion-dollar corporations into the careers of young artists of color. \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“This is the culture of the industry, this is where the money is generated from,” says Big Rich of the young people he works with. “We have to reinvest into these communities.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through Project Level, Big Rich has also seen how investing in the community can lead to striking gold.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/trU-S53fK04'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/trU-S53fK04'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">O\u003c/span>n a rainy April 15th, at a 415 Day celebration in 2018, a young artist named \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/24kgoldn/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">24K Goldn\u003c/a> grabbed the microphone. \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“H\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">e electrified the stage, but no one was really there,” says Big Rich. “I was like, ‘This kid is dope!'”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After learning that 24K Goldn was already en route to USC in the fall, Big Rich connected him to a manager in Southern California. Now 24K Goldn, who went \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/24kGoldn/status/1258103370562146304?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">platinum last year\u003c/a> and just dropped a new album, \u003cem>El Dorado\u003c/em>, a month ago,\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> “is arguably the hottest artist in the country right now,” according to Big Rich—and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.billboard.com/music/24kgoldn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Billboard charts\u003c/a>.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now the question is, how can more San Francisco artists shine like 24K Goldn?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a question that’s not just about talent. It’s about “politics,” structure and business acumen. It’s about navigating the high cost of living. And, for some, it’s about being a member of the small percentage of working class Black and brown folks struggling to make ends meet in one the world’s most expensive cities—and still make art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ghazi at Empire has a plan,” Big Rich tells me. “He’s investing in artists in the City, and I think it’s going to pay off.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_13895809\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-13895809\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/unnamed-2021-04-09T131257.477-1020x1020.jpg\" alt=\"The cover of 'Zaytoven Presents Fo15,' released by Empire. \" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/unnamed-2021-04-09T131257.477-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/unnamed-2021-04-09T131257.477-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/unnamed-2021-04-09T131257.477-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/unnamed-2021-04-09T131257.477-768x768.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/04/unnamed-2021-04-09T131257.477.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The cover of ‘Zaytoven Presents Fo15,’ released by Empire.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 4.6875em;float: left;line-height: 0.733em;padding: 0.05em 0.1em 0 0;font-family: times, serif, georgia\">“I\u003c/span> didn’t realize we were having a moment,” Ghazi says during a Zoom call earlier this week. “I was trying to create a moment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/ghazi/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ghazi\u003c/a> is the head of the major independent label Empire, and the A&R behind the newly released album, \u003cem>Zaytoven Presents:\u003c/em> \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.empi.re/listen/index.php?id=172356\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fo15\u003c/a>\u003c/em>, which celebrates some of San Francisco’s rawest talent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The album is produced by San Francisco’s own mega-producer \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/zaytovenbeatz/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zaytoven\u003c/a>, known for his collaborations with southern rappers like Gucci Mane. The album features members of Frisco’s next wave of stars: Lil Bean, ZayBang, Prezi, Kxng Lamma and Lil Pete.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ghazi, who grew up listening to artists like \u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/artist/338893-IMP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">I.M.P\u003c/a>. and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.discogs.com/artist/332457-Get-Low-Playaz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Get Low Playaz\u003c/a>, says, “A big part of putting this project together was to do for the next generation what those artists did for me, which is creating bigger and better things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says that in the past, a lot of the issues the City’s rap scene faced were “due to lack of infrastructure, lack of proper mentorship, the political landscape that surrounds a lot of the neighborhoods, the socioeconomics,” and a bunch of other things going on in the City. But now there’s potential do things differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ghazi makes a basketball comparison, saying that an artist putting up great individual stats isn’t the same as the whole team putting up great stats, or having a coaching staff that can compete with the rest of the league. “We’ve always had the talented players,” says Ghazi of San Francisco’s artists. “But we never had the franchise, we never had the coaching staff, and we never ran an 82 game season.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/uZpWqUpAbbo'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/uZpWqUpAbbo'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>“In my mind, San Francisco is not having a moment,” Ghazi tells me over the video chat as he drives through East Oakland. “In my mind, the whole entire Bay Area has been dry for quite some time, and most people have no idea what the glory years were like in the Bay… \u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">There’s a little bit of something happening, and I wouldn’t call it a moment, but there’s potential for a great moment if we stay on it. I wouldn’t call it a moment, yet.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the primary hurdles the City faces is the issue with talent leaving—not just artists, but talented people who work behind the scenes in businesses that support the industry. That’s why Ghazi’s been mindful to keep his company in San Francisco and create space for culture to flourish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This album is proof of the factory existing,” says Ghazi of the \u003cem>Fo15\u003c/em> project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And now, in order to get to that true “moment”—or rather, a time period of extended success for San Francisco—Ghazi has a simple formula.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We gotta tell our story,” Ghazi tells me. He’s firm in his beliefs that people should know and be proud of all of the talent that has come from San Francisco—from Andre Nickatina to Apple’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/thelarryjackson/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Larry Jackson\u003c/a> (who plays a significant role in making those \u003ca href=\"https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/08/13/apple-musics-larry-jackson-weighs-in-on-verzuz-collaboration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Verzuz events\u003c/a> happen) and back to every rapper named in this article.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The more individual success stories you create, you raise the economy of the region,” says Ghazi. “When you raise the overall economy of the region, people are less inclined to leave the region because they have something to do. And when people don’t leave, you keep the talent in.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a kid from Oakland who grew up listening to E-40 and Too $hort, as well as Messy Marv, JT the Bigga Figga, and San Quinn, I get it. We’re a vast region with different cultures in each city, neighborhood and block. That said, when one section is going about their business correctly, the honorable thing to do is give them a salute.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"soldout": {
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"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
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